Chi Chikai
by Cykotyks
Summary: Friendships forged in blood are the hardest to break... [AUish] [RenjiIchigo]
1. Your Useless Prologue

**Summary**: Friendships forged in blood are the hardest ones to break...  
**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Rating**: T/PG  
**Warning**: Cussing, Violence, Immoral and Illegal Acts, Character Deaths**  
****Notes**: Somewhat AU - more like PU (Parallel Universe). Starts out during Renji's and Rukia's time together in Rukongai and follows the general pattern of the original Bleach storyline (kind of). I plan on keeping to the T/PG rating, so that means I'm not writing smut this time.  
**Spoiler warnings**: Although I'm taking some elements from the original Bleach story line, you're probably safe if you're to the end of the Soul Society arc. I always recommend being up-to-date with the manga since I'm not always sure of what things I'll throw in for fun, but I think if you're at least up-to-date with the anime (sans Bounto Arc), you'll be fine.

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Your Useless Prologue

* * *

Inuzuri. The seventy-eighth district. One of the most violent districts in the entire Rukongai. It wasn't a place for pacifists or optimists – there was no bright side and there would be no peace. You fought to live, you stole to eat, and sleep was a luxury. It was no place for children, and yet children seemed to survive. In ragtag bands, these ruffians fought back to back just to get by. They were the rats of the district and very few people liked them at all. 

Mainly because they were all thieves.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU BRATS!!"

The brats in question, of course, weren't going to do anything of the sort. The old man paused for a breath as the three boys ran around a corner. Suddenly, the man was on the ground, knocked over by a little girl. She jumped on his head, smashing it into the ground, before she ran off after the boys.

Scenes like this were fairly common, and the other residents paid no attention to it. Nothing would be accomplished if they went after the thieves. The boys would most likely get away anyway, and they would only waste their time. Besides, there was a very good chance all of those thieves would be killed within the next week.

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	2. Rats Have Morals, Too

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warnings**: "Street Rat" Dialect, Foul Language  
**Notes**: I've taken some liberties with the actual functions dealing with food, water, and Hollows**  
**

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Rats Have Morals, Too

* * *

The boy kept close to the sides of the buildings, trying his best to avoid people. He'd already been kicked several times and his side was hurting. Not to mention the constant hunger pains, the headache, and his sore feet. But he wasn't complaining. He had nobody to complain to, and complaining didn't help anything. It only made him thirsty. 

"Outta tha way, brat!" somebody growled before kicking the boy to the ground. Unfortunately, he was also kicked into the main stream of people, and had been kicked and stepped on several times before he was able to cling to the side of a building again. His left eye was slowly swelling shut and he could feel blood trickling from his head, soaking his orange hair.

And he was shoved again. This time by a boy not much older than himself. "Watch where yer goin', pipsqueak!" the boy snapped before kicking him again. The assailant's friends joined in, and there were three boys kicking him.

Renji watched this all happening from an alleyway. Cursing Rukia and her morals, he darted across the road, narrowly avoiding people, and ended with a solid kick to the leader's rear end. He made short work of the three, who ran off fairly quickly. He looked back at the boy, who was now unconscious and bleeding and bruised in several places.

"Dammit…"

* * *

Renji looked up when he heard the kid stir awake. 

"You awake, spike-head?"

"Ichigo," the boy said. "My name's Ichigo."

"Huh. Well, you awake?"

Ichigo sat up. "No, I'm sleepwalking," he said sarcastically. "Shit… what happened?" he asked, seeing the bandages around his bare torso.

"You got your ass kicked by some idiots. They gave ya some pretty nasty scrapes and bruises."

"Tch… They're lucky I wasn't feelin' good… Bastards woulda thought twice b'fore messin' with me."

"Why ain't ya feelin' good? 'Sides the black eye."

"Hungry," Ichigo replied before flopping back down to his back. His stomach growled loudly in agreement. "Haven't eat'n a thing in two days."

"Che… Boke – you can't steal on yer own?"

"Nope. My friends did the stealin', I did the ass-kickin'. But now they're dead, so I ain't got no stealer, so I ain't got no food, so I ain't got no energy to kick no asses." He looked at Renji. "Can you steal?"

Renji smirked. "'Course I can steal! I'm the best thief in this district!"

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Huh?"

"You look like an idiot with that red hair stickin' up all over the place – ya look like a pineapple, if ya ask me. I don't think you could get away with stealin' more'n a few times. People'd start recognizin' ya. Chase ya off."

"That's why I got friends," Renji said. "And I ain't no damn pineapple!"

Ichigo snickered. "I kinda like that. Pineapple-head."

"Che… fine then, strawberry," Renji shot.

"Yeah, like I ain't heard that before," Ichigo said before yawning. "C'mon, come up with somethin' original," he added as he sat back up.

"After you eat somethin' – I'm tempted t'call ya a zombie with yer ribs stickin' out like that," he said, getting up. "An' my name's Renji."

"Renji, huh? I like Pineapple-head better."

Renji snorted in irritation before grabbing some of the stolen bread out of their stash. "Yer lucky I feel sorry for ya, else I'd kick you back out on the streets," he said, handing a piece to Ichigo.

"Tch – I don't need yer pity," Ichigo replied, though he took the bread anyway.

"Boke – you got a death wish? You ain't gonna survive without food."

"I ain't gonna survive with it, either. Damned Hollows keep comin' after me. 'S why my friends got killed – damn Hollow ate 'em tryin' to get t'me."

"What's so special 'bout you?"

"Somethin' 'bout my reiatsu – it said I'd prob'ly be tastier than a Shinigami."

"Tastier than a Shinigami, huh? You gotta be pretty strong, then."

"Eh, I think the Hollow's messed up – if I was stronger than a Shinigami, I'd kick their asses."

"So how'd ya get away?"

"I ran. I ain't dumb 'nuff ta take on a Hollow on my own."

"So yer friends died and ya ran?"

Ichigo glared. "No point in me dyin', too, just tryin' ta be a hero. I ain't no match for a Hollow. I will be, tho'. I'mma become a Shinigami and I'll kick all those damned Hollow's asses."

"You can't ev'n survive two days without food – how you gonna become a Shinigami?"

"I'll do it," Ichigo said firmly.

"Well if you can do it, I can do it, too."

"You? A Shinigami?"

"I'm tougher than you are, dandelion-head, and I'll prove it."

Ichigo blinked. "Dandelion-head?" He thought about it. Then smirked. Then chuckled. "I like it!"

* * *

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**

* * *

**

Vocabulary...

Boke: idiot, retard (_slang_)

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	3. Life's Nothing Without the Scary

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warning**: Crack

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Life's Nothing Without the Scary

* * *

Ichigo was only with Renji's group for a week but had already integrated himself fairly well. Renji, Kitsure, and Jordan worked together to distract the storeowners and steal whatever they could. Then they'd make sure to run by wherever Rukia and Ichigo were waiting so the two could take down whoever was chasing after them. With another person helping out, the group was able to steal from a variety of stores. They once had three big men chasing after them and Ichigo took them all down single-handedly, earning him the respect of the group and of many others who had witnessed it. 

Among all the necessary thievery, the red-heads had taken to sparring with each other. Ichigo was the superior of the two and more often than not ended up teaching Renji rather than sparring him.

"Your entire left side is open again!" Ichigo warned. "You gotta keep sideways."

Renji frowned and followed his instruction. "This better?"

"Mmhm," Ichigo said before hitting Renji open-handed in the head. "'Cept you let yer guard down," he added with a grin.

"No fair!" Renji tackled Ichigo to the ground and they rolled in the dirt before ending up in a heap, laughing.

"Baka," Ichigo growled, grinning. "Ya can't just tackle ev'ry body ya wanna fight!" he said, trying to shove Renji off of him.

"Why not?" Renji asked, sitting on Ichigo's stomach. "It works against you, and yer the strongest kid I know – 'sides me, o'course."

"Tch – I'm stronger than you!"

"Then why can't ya shove me off?"

"'Cause yer FAT!"

"What?!" Renji and Ichigo got into another scuffle and this time, Ichigo ended up sitting on Renji's back, pinning him to the ground.

"Uhg, you ain't no pretty feather, either," Renji growled.

"I'm lighter than you."

"Che… Where'd you learn to fight, anyway?"

"I took classes at a dojo in my city 'fore I died. Where'd you learn to steal?"

"Been a street rat all my life _and_ death. Can ya get offa me now?"

"Nope."

"What're you boys up to now?" Rukia asked.

"Renji's fat," Ichigo supplied.

"I AM NOT!" Renji growled. "Get off me!!"

"Erm…okay…" Rukia said. The two were complete oddballs on their own, and together they just didn't make any sense whatsoever. Rukia didn't understand boys much anyway, but these two were beyond all comprehension. Even Kitsure and Jordan had trouble understanding them and couldn't offer any decent explanation to Rukia.

Speaking of which, the other two boys skidded around the corner and nearly collided with the girl.

"What the—?!" Rukia demanded.

"S-sorry!" Kitsure panted. "There's a—"

Before he could finish, a horrible screeching howl echoed throughout the district.

"…Hollow!" the five of them screamed at once before scrambling to their hideout.

"Shit… It's after me again!" Ichigo spat. He stood at the doorway after the other four had gotten in.

"Are you stupid?! Get in here!" Jordan yelled.

"It's after me! If I'm with you guys, you'll just get killed, too!"

"And if it eats you, we're fucked anyway!" Renji snapped, grabbing Ichigo's wrist and pulling him inside. "Letting it have you ain't gonna solve anything!"

"But…" Ichigo tried to protest.

"Renji's right, Ichigo. Even if it gets what it wants, it's not gonna stop with just that. You can't satisfy a Hollow," Rukia reminded him.

"But I can still run! I can lead it away from here!"

"And then it'll catch ya an' eat ya an' come back here an' eat tha rest of us 'til a shinigami kills it!" Renji yelled.

"I can keep running 'til a shinigami kills it!" Ichigo said, yanking his arm from Renji's grasp.

Renji grabbed him again and wrapped his arms around him tightly. "Ya ain't gonna run. We're gonna go underground and we're gonna hide until it goes away – got that? I'm tha leader here so ya gotta listen to me."

"I don't gotta listen to no one," Ichigo growled, but he stopped struggling all the same and let Renji lead him underground.

* * *

"You go first." 

"What? Why?! You go first!"

"Boke! This was _your_ idea!"

Renji's eye twitched. Okay, it _was_ his idea – that obviously didn't mean it was a _good_ idea.

They stood at the edge of the cliff, staring down at the lake. A huge tree hung out over the glassy water, a rope tied to a sturdy branch lay coiled at their feet.

"If I do it, you _have_ to do it," Renji said, glaring at Ichigo out of the corner of his eye.

"If you _survive_, I'll do it," Ichigo replied, returning the glare.

They stood still, glaring at each other for a few seconds.

They glanced at the rope at their feet.

They glanced at the tree branch.

They glanced at the water.

They glanced at each other.

"Just jump already!!" Ichigo yelped, shoving Renji, who spazzed, afraid of falling over the cliff, and clung to his fellow redhead, which resulted in them both tumbling into the dirt.

Renji ended up on top, hugging an exasperated Ichigo in fear. "Uhh…"

"Get off me," Ichigo sighed.

"Nnngh."

Ichigo tugged at Renji's clothes. "Get _off_ me and JUMP!"

Renji's head popped up and he looked at Ichigo with a look telling him that his bad idea was only going to get worse. "Together."

"…What?"

"Together. Let's jump together."

"Renji, are you NUTS?! We'll get hurt!"

"But…"

Ichigo shoved him back and propped himself up on his elbows. "Just because you're too scared to do it alone doesn't mean doing it _together_ is gonna make it better!"

"You're scared, too!" Renji said accusingly, pointing a finger at him.

Ichigo just glared at him. "Fine. We'll jump together."

Renji grinned and scrambled off of him, Ichigo not long in following. They stood in front of the rope before looking at each other again. "How do we do this?" Ichigo asked skeptically.

"Hold on and hope we don't die?" Renji suggested.

Ichigo smacked him upside the head. "Boke!!"

"Aiya!! I was kidding!"

"Then come up with something!"

Renji uncoiled the rope to the knot. "We hang onto this for dear life and let go when it reaches the other side."

"Can we do it together?"

"Guess we'll find out…"

"That's comforting…"

"Shut up," Renji said as he walked back until the rope tugged taut at the knot. "Hang on – we'll run."

"Run?" Ichigo questioned, taking a hold of the knot anyway.

"Yes. Run. You ready?"

"Uhh…" Ichigo gulped. "I guess…"

"Alright. Let's go!"

"What?!" But Renji was already running and Ichigo had no choice but to go along.

They ran off the edge of the cliff and started freefalling.

And started screaming.

The rope hit its end and swung out.

"Let go!!" Renji yelled.

"What—now?!"

"YES NOW!! LET GO!!"

Both boys let their hands slip from the knot at the same time and cannonballed into the cold water.

"OH MY GAWD!!" Renji yelled, laughing as his head popped above the water. "THAT WAS SO COOL!!"

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh as well. "I am NEVER doing that again!!"

"Like hell you aren't!! Admit it, carrot-top, that's the most _awesome_ thing you've ever done!"

"Alright, alright!! Augh—I'm practically drowning in these clothes," he complained, tugging at the cloth. It didn't take him too long to wriggle out of it and toss it up on a rock, and by the time he had done so, Renji wasn't too far behind.

"Holy shit, it's freezing in here," Renji said, rubbing his arms to stay warm.

Ichigo nodded in agreement, but they just treaded water, shivering for a bit.

"Wanna get out?"

"Hell yes."

They both scrambled out of the water and tugged their wet clothes back on. They found the trail back up to the top of the cliff and by the time they had reached the grass, they were wet and coated with dirt and dust. Not to mention still trembling from the cold. So they flopped in the grass, trying to warm themselves in the sun.

"We didn't plan this very well…" Ichigo mumbled.

"No… Not really…" Renji agreed. "It was still fun, though."

"Yeah, it was…"

Silence fell again for a few moments.

"Are you still cold?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah. Are you?"

Ichigo rolled over and cuddled up to his companion, using his chest as a pillow. "A little."

Silence again.

"Ichigo?"

"Huh?"

"When we become shinigami, what'll we do if we get separated?"

Ichigo lifted his head to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"We may get sent to different divisions."

"That's not gonna happen," Ichigo said firmly. "Our skills work together – bein' a shinigami ain't gonna change anything."

Renji smiled a bit. Ichigo had slipped back into dialect, which meant that he wasn't scared. It just wouldn't—_couldn't_ happen. "Yeah," he said with a chuckle. "It ain't gonna change anything."

Since the matter seemed resolved, Ichigo resumed his cuddled position. "Don't think about it, Renji. As long as we stick together, we're not going to be separated by anything."

"You promise?"

Ichigo lifted his head and held up his fist, just his pinky sticking up. "Pinky promise."

Renji linked his own pinky with Ichigo's. "Pinky promise."

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	4. Forged in Blood

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warning**: Character Death, Language, Masochism, Violence.  
**Note**: Please be aware that the aging process in Rukongai is considerably slower than in the real world. So although they grow up, they don't look much older than maybe twelve or thirteen.

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Forged in Blood

* * *

Two years had passed. 

Renji sat in front of the grave marker on the cliff. It was the only place they could bury a body without it getting desecrated easily. "Dammit…" he sighed to himself.

"Renji…" Ichigo called, coming up to join him. "You okay?" he asked, sitting next to the redhead.

"I was s'ppos'ta protect 'im… He asked fer my help an' I promised ta protect him…"

"Ya did what ya could, Renji," Ichigo said, leaning on his companion. "Jordan was the weakest – it's only natural for him to go first."

"That doesn't make it any better!" Renji snapped.

Ichigo sighed. He understood Renji's pain – he'd been through it, too. Luckily, Jordan had only been killed, not eaten by a Hollow. His soul would be reincarnated, unlike Ichigo's old comrades. But for Renji, not being able to keep a promise wasn't something he could just pass off with "well, I tried." Ichigo understood that, too.

The redhead was trembling. His knees were drawn up with his arms crossed on top, and he now had his face buried into the crook of his elbow.

Ichigo reached around and undid Renji's hair-tie, letting the longish red hair fall free. "It's okay to cry," he said softly, running his fingers through the crimson locks.

"D-damare…" Renji stuttered out, still trying to dam the flood.

"Just let it out, Renji… If ya keep it bottled up, you'll explode."

Renji looked up at him with faint tear tracks down his cheeks. "Explode, huh?" he echoed with a sad smile, trying to show a good mood. But his resolve didn't hold out for long and he collapsed against Ichigo, openly crying.

Ichigo just held him silently. They felt like babies when they cried, so they never did it. At least not in front of anybody. The smaller boy knew the first thing Renji needed was a friend, and the last thing he needed was a comment. So he stayed silent, running his fingers through the red hair, as Renji cried himself out.

* * *

It wasn't until five years later that the four were big enough to enroll in the Academy. In that time, they had acquired and lost a total of seven comrades to the increasing violence. To save himself the same pain he experienced from Jordan's death, Renji made no promises to them except to do what they could. Even so, as the leader, he still felt some responsibility for their deaths, and buried them near Jordan. 

Up on that cliff, Ichigo and Renji sat, watching the sunset. It was their last night in Inuzuri and they weren't sorry to see it go. The next morning, they would be escorted into Seireitei and the Shinigami Academy, along with Rukia, Kitsure, and many others.

"It'll be fun," Ichigo was saying. "With the noble houses there – a few Rukongai rats like us are gonna hafta fight like hell to get any recognition."

"Heh – yeah. We'll show them that ya don't hafta have a name to have power. You, especially."

"Why me? You're just as—"

"Shuddup, Ichi-berry. I'm not as strong as you, so stop sayin' I am."

"Ya can be, though. Just 'cause I seem strong now don't mean ya can't catch up or even surpass me. Who knows, ya could turn out to be the stronger one."

"Yeah right."

"Stop that," Ichigo said, shoving his companion. "You underestimate yourself."

"And you _over_estimate me."

"Is that so bad? Would you like me to shove it in your face that you'll always be below me? That I'm far superior and you'll always be seen as a Rukongai rat? You KNOW I'm not going to do that."

Renji stared at him. "Is that what you really think?"

"NO!" Ichigo spazzed. "I was giving you an example!"

Renji chuckled. "Fine then. I _will_ surpass ya. I'll leave ya in the dust so fast ya won't know what hit ya!"

"Bring it, spike-boy!" Ichigo retorted, laughing.

"You've got more spikes than me, porcupine!" Renji pointed out, tackling his comrade to the ground.

They tumbled in the dirt, away from the edge, laughing.

Ichigo caught his footing first and ran towards their home. "Catch me if you can, rat!"

Renji wasn't long in following. "I'll do more than that!"

They darted through the nearly empty streets, laughing as they dodged people and obstacles. Renji didn't catch up until they reached the hut, where he tackled the smaller boy to the ground, causing them to tumble again, ending in a heap of laughter.

Ichigo had landed on top of Renji and when the laughter subsided, he smirked down at him. "Yer still below me."

"I caught ya, though," Renji replied, shoving the other off of him.

"Yeah, after I was inside. That doesn't count."

"Yeah it does – I caught ya when ya thought it was safe. That's just what's gonna happen. You'll be promoted to a captain or somethin' and you'll think 'Renji lost 'cause I'm a captain now, so I'm safe' and then BAM! I'll be there, kickin' yer ass!"

Ichigo laughed. "Thanks fer warnin' me, then."

"Warnin' ya? No way – I'll get promoted to captain before you even have a _chance_!"

"Zat so?"

"Yeah!"

"Zat a challenge, then?"

Renji grinned. They thrived on competition. "Damn right it is!"

Ichigo laughed and held out his hand. "So then we'll be competing for captaincy in the same division?"

Renji remembered their childish pinky promise from seven years ago. "Maybe," he answered. "How 'bout a promise that whoever reaches captaincy first will recommend the other for vice-captain."

"And promise to give it our best to be the first one."

"But promise not to forget that we are, first and foremost, best friends and comrades in everything."

"Like we'd ever forget that," Ichigo said softly. He had dropped his hand at this point.

"We might – that's the only thing I'm afraid of. I don't care who's stronger, but I don't ever wanna forget who I am."

"Then we'll do this deeper than a pinky promise."

"Deeper…?" Renji asked as Ichigo got up and grabbed his dagger and Renji's knife.

"A Blood Oath," Ichigo explained, handing his blade to him. "I did something similar with my old buddies." He showed Renji his thumb, which had a faint scar across it. "When we made our pact, we wrote it out and all signed it by cutting our thumbs and pressin' them to the paper. Part of that pact was to exact revenge on a killer of a comrade. After the Hollow killed them all, I buried the pact and swore to kill it. That's why I wanted to become a Shinigami. This, though – this'll fade. It's already started to. The paper it's on will fade, too. But if we need something to…to remind us of who we are, we'll need somethin' that's not gonna ever fade away."

"So…what've you got in mind?"

"Hold up your right hand…"

* * *

Ichigo and Renji had sliced open each other's right palm, from the base of the thumb to the base of the pinky, and held their hands together as they recited their promise. 

_With my blood, I give to my brother my word, my promise, my oath, my life. Nothing of this life or the next shall separate this bond, this promise, this oath, this life. To my brother, I swear all loyalty. This is our promise: give this life the best we've got, together, as comrades, as brothers. Give our all in everything we do, never forgetting our past, never forgetting our future, never forgetting ourselves. No one gets left behind._

As they recited it, they both had rested their foreheads against their joined hands as they fought dizziness, and blood was starting to drip down their arms.

"Ichigo?" Renji broke the silence between them after the recital with a small voice.

"Hn?"

"What happens…if we _both_ forget?"

"We die."

"W-what?!" Renji's head shot up, hitting him with a fresh wave of light-headed dizziness.

Ichigo looked at him, dead serious. "'I give my brother my oath, my life. To my brother, I swear all loyalty.' If one brother breaks that promise, he dies. If both break it, it's only natural that both should die. Traditionally by way of seppuku."

"Th-that's…a little extreme…don't you think?"

The younger boy tightened his grip, staring into Renji's eyes with a glare that, quite frankly, scared the shit out of him. "Are you or are you not willing to take your own life if you break this bond?"

Renji braced himself. "I…am willing to take my own life if necessary. But if I turn against you for any reason, I only hope that you kill me – I shouldn't be allowed the luxury of taking my own life." He never broke eye contact. It frightened him to make this sort proclamation, but somehow, knowing that the only thing that faced him, if he ever forgot why he had that scar, was death, was actually comforting.

Ichigo smiled. "I'm holding you to that, and I hope you do the same for me."

"It wouldn't be right any other way."

* * *

"What happened to your guys' hands?" Rukia asked upon seeing the redheads with bandages around their right hands. 

"Guy stuff," Ichigo answered bluntly. "Nothin' ya'd understand."

"Try me. What sort of 'guy stuff' wouldn't I get?"

Ichigo and Renji exchanged glances. "Well, we can't exactly show her," Renji muttered. "They haven't healed yet…"

"What hasn't healed?"

"The cuts from the Blood Oath," Kitsure answered. "You guys could've at least cleaned up the mess."

"That wasn't important at the time," Ichigo said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Blood Oath?" Rukia asked.

"See? Ya don't get it," Ichigo answered.

"Don't be like that!"

"They're basically masochists, Rukia-chan," Kitsure supplied. "Not to mention it's usually tribal…"

"Look," Renji interrupted, "me an' Ichigo don't got a whole lot – we didn't wanna forget where we came from, so we swore loyalty to each other in a promise to never forget that or each other."

"And you had to slice your hand open for that?"

"The Blood Oath requires the bloods to mix in some form or another," the raven-haired boy explained. "And the scar is also part of the reminder."

"Since when did you know so much about this?" Ichigo asked, eyeing the boy.

"I read a lot."

"About rituals?"

"They fascinated me – zat wrong?"

"Nope. Not at all."

"So all this bloodletting is just for some stupid promise?"

"Bad move," Kitsure muttered.

Ichigo didn't even hesitate to shove her down. "You wouldn't call it stupid if you understood it!"

"I-I didn't mean…" she trailed off. Even Renji, who normally stood up for her, was glaring at her. Kitsure wasn't even paying attention to them. "I'm sorry."

"Like hell you are! You don't get it at all!"

"You're right! I don't! Please, stop yelling at me!" Rukia cried. Ichigo was starting to scare her. She'd seen him irritated and even pissed, but this was beyond that.

Ichigo turned and stormed off, Renji not long in following. Kitsure stayed behind with her out of pity.

"You didn't need to scare her shitless…" Renji said.

"Renji, I wouldn't do something so important or binding as the Blood Oath with just anybody. You're everything I have now. You're special. Somebody like her callin' it stupid… It's not right. I can't just let something like that go."

"I get that, but like you said, she didn't understand. Ya can't really expect somebody like her to get how deep this is or how important it is to us. To her, yer family by association, and all promises shouldn't ever be broken. She doesn't get that we could lose sight of that and we don't want to."

Ichigo nodded. "I still won't forgive her for that."

"She didn't do it intentionally, Ichi-berry. You have to forgive her eventually."

"Only if she humiliates herself."

"You can be very cruel sometimes…"

* * *

"I APOLOGIZE FOR MY IGNORANCE. MY WORDS WERE UTTERED OUT OF STUPIDITY AND THOUGHTLESSNESS. I HOPE THAT KUROSAKI-SAN WILL FORGIVE ME." 

Those were the words that came out of Rukia's mouth a day later as she bowed low on her knees, her forehead touching the ground. Everybody in the hall had stopped to watch the spectacle.

"Does this count as humiliating herself?" Renji muttered as Ichigo recovered from the shock (he had still just been waking up).

"What the hell are you going on about, Rukia?" Ichigo said, just loud enough to reach those nearby.

Rukia looked up only to have her head slammed back down by Ichigo's foot. "Oh yeah, I remember now. You called the Blood Oath 'stupid.' Silly me, how could I have forgotten _that_?" His voice was cold, clearly obvious that he hadn't forgotten at all.

The hall buzzed with people asking questions – those that didn't know what the Blood Oath was were being told by those that did. Renji watched on, knowing that Ichigo had to have things his way or no way at all.

"I-I am truly sorry," Rukia stuttered out, caught off guard by Ichigo's reaction.

"Are you? Or did Kitsure just tell you to say that?"

"Hey, I didn't tell her to do anything," Kitsure said, coming up from behind them.

"What did you tell her?"

"Just why that masochistic ritual would be something sacred between you two."

Ichigo looked down at Rukia and nudged his foot, indicating that she should speak.

"I was wrong to call it stupid. The blood ritual is not only to signify brotherhood between two men, but lo—erk!"

Ichigo was gone, running from the scene. He had used Rukia's head as a step, the sudden weight having cut off her sentence.

Renji cursed and chased after him.

Rukia looked up and to Kitsure. "Did…I say something wrong again?"

Kitsure chuckled. "You just embarrassed him, that's all."

The hall had started moving again, the show now over.

* * *

"She comes to apologize and then just defiles it AGAIN!" Ichigo yelled, pacing. 

"Calm down, Ichigo!" Renji pleaded. He didn't want to touch him at this point, fearing it would only earn him injuries.

"Why should I?! You heard her!"

"Actually, I didn't. It sounded like a word that started with an 'L', but you cut her off."

"Are you fucking serious?"

"I mean, I could guess…"

"Just shut up!"

"Ichigo! What's so wrong about that?"

Ichigo stopped and stared at him.

"For all we know, Kitsure could've just told her it signified 'brotherly love' and she misinterpreted it. But even if he did just say 'love,' what're you getting so worked up about? These are Kitsure's words, not Rukia's, and you _know_ he's got no problem twistin' words."

"So…you don't care?"

"Well, I'm glad you cut her off before she could actually get the word out – last thing we need is rumors spreading that we're gay or something," he added with a chuckle.

"Heh, yeah. We're just brothers – blood brothers. There's nothing wrong with that."

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

Vocabulary... 

Damare: shut up

* * *

(2500) (5040)  



	5. Sudden Friends, Sudden Enemies

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else  
**Warning**: Language, Vomit.**  
Note**: Most of this scene is taken from the anime (the episode number escapes me). Also, like with Rukongai, I took some liberties with the functions of the academy.

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Sudden Friends, Sudden Enemies

* * *

After their first week, the group of four was split in half as Rukia and Kitsure were placed in a lower class. Renji and Ichigo were both placed in the advanced class with all of the noble kids and some Rukongai brats (the ones from the nicer parts of Rukongai).

* * *

"It's too nice out to spar," Ichigo whined, leaning against a large tree. 

"Yeah, you got a point," Renji said, sitting down with his back against the tree.

Ichigo lay down with his head on Renji's leg, staring up at the leaves. "You're probably pretty tired anyway from kickin' that Kira guy's ass."

"Why would I be tired? That was even easier than bein' on the defensive against you."

"Liar – I saw you. You went all out on him. You could've easily beat him with half the effort."

"I was just pissed about the kidou practice…"

Ichigo laughed. "We kinda suck at that, don't we?"

"Anou…" A vaguely familiar voice interrupted them. "Ah, Abarai-san, right?"

Renji looked up at the blond. "Yeah?"

The man chuckled sheepishly. "Ah, I'm Kira Izuru. It was a pleasure sparring with you," he greeted, holding out his hand.

Ichigo rolled over to his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows as Renji replied, "Yer from one of them high-class families, ain't ya?"

"Eheh, I suppose you could say that…" Kira said, flustered.

Renji smirked. "Well we ain't from any class, so save the formalities. I'm Abarai Renji."

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Ichigo put in. "Siddown – yer too tall fer me to look at," he added lazily.

Kira gladly obliged. "I-I've heard a lot about you two – rumors and whatnot. It's quite a spectacle seeing two Rukongai orphans cause—"

"Hold it – orphans?" Ichigo interrupted. "I ain't been called _that_ my whole damn life."

"Ah, gomennasai – I didn't know what else to call you…"

"Just call us Rukongai rats," Renji said. "The rats are the kids from the harshest districts. The brats are the kids from the nicer parts of Rukongai – kids like Hinamori."

"I-I see. Ah, as I was saying, it's quite a spectacle seeing two Rukongai rats cause such a fuss within the, ah, higher classes. I mean, it's not uncommon to see those from Rukongai in the advanced class, but on top of that, outside of kidou, you two are in the top percentile of the entire academy."

"We gotta suck at somethin', ne?" Ichigo said with a chuckle.

"And then, there is the rumor of the Blood Oath…" Kira added, trying to sound off-hand.

"That's true," Renji said, holding open his right hand. Ichigo did the same. The scars were still very clear and defined.

"O-oh… Sugoi…" Kira breathed.

"What's so fascinating about it to everybody, anyway?" Renji asked.

"The level of commitment to one another – it's very rare to find it nowadays. Especially in our generation. I can't imagine the amount of trust you two must have in each other, and then to be willing to die for that loyalty…"

"Damare," Renji said. "Ya make it sound too… I dunno."

"Formal," Ichigo supplied. "Sayin' things like you were make it sound like somethin' only real important people do or somethin'. Nothin' that two rats like us should be messin' with. Ya start makin' it out like somethin' them older people would think we're stupid to do – like we don't know what we've committed to."

"But…you don't feel that way, do you?" Kira asked.

"Of course not! People pointin' out meanin's and shit just irritates me. It is what it is and we did it knowin' that and b'lievin' keepin' our promise is more important than breakin' it and livin'."

"A-alright. I won't bring it up again…"

Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, when he was interrupted with people running by, babbling about something that involved the words "taichou" and "Gotei 13."

"What's goin' on?" Renji asked.

"Let's go see," Kira said, standing up. The other two weren't long in following.

* * *

They followed the general flow of people to the entrance of the Academy walls. There, they overheard that a captain of the Gotei 13 was paying a visit to the Academy. 

"A captain, huh?" Renji said, awed.

"Bet he ain't nothin'," Ichigo snorted as he stood on his tip-toes, trying to see over the crowd. "I mean, if he's got time to bother seein' us kids, he's gotta be a pretty bored and useless captain."

"Please watch what you say, Kurosaki-san!" Kira pleaded.

Ichigo eyed him. "Drop the honorifics, Kira."

A sudden wave of gasps and squeals cut their conversation short. Irritated by his adolescent stature, Ichigo cursed as he tried to gain height again.

"Thought he was a useless captain," Renji teased, placing his hand on Ichigo's head and shoving him back down.

"Doesn't mean I don't wanna see if I was right!" Ichigo snapped, grabbing his arm and using it as leverage. What he saw was a brown-haired, bespectacled shinigami adorned in a white coat, followed by a silver-haired shinigami with squinty eyes and an inhuman grin. "Whozzat?"

"That's Aizen-taichou and Ichimaru-fukutaichou of the fifth division," Kira explained with wonderment.

"They don't look like much," Ichigo replied skeptically.

"N-nani?! You can't feel their reiatsu?! It's on a completely different level from ours!"

"Level, yeah, only 'cause ours is unrefined," Renji said.

"That still doesn't give him the right to say they don't look like much!"

"Fine," Ichigo said, not looking back at him, "they look like something I can beat when I'm a full shinigami. Happy now, pants-crapper?"

Kira balked, appalled at the childish insult.

Suddenly, Ichigo blanched and his hold on Renji's arm loosened as he collapsed to his knees, his hands over his mouth.

"Ichii?!" Renji kneeled down next to him. "You okay?"

"I think…I'm gonna be sick…" Ichigo managed to say, muffled by his hands.

"W-what's wrong?" Kira asked.

"Dunno," Renji said, rubbing Ichigo's back. He could feel the boy trembling all over.

Ichigo leaned against the other redhead as the tremors began to subside. "…fucking snake…" he mumbled.

"What is?" Renji asked.

"Ichimaru." His voice was getting steadier. "Looked right at me. Felt like a snake wrapped 'round my heart, squeezin' th'life outta it. Made me sick – cold all over."

"Yare yare…" a smooth voice drawled from behind them, making Ichigo freeze up again. "You don't look so well there."

Renji and Kira turned to find themselves in the company of none other than the silver-haired Ichimaru.

Ichigo slowly turned and looked at him. And promptly retched.

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

Vocabulary... 

Anou: um  
Gomennasai: (I'm very) sorry  
Sugoi: wow  
Taichou: captain  
Fukutaichou: vice-captain/lieutenant  
Nani: what  
Yare yare: (akin to) boy oh boy/man oh man

* * *

(1093) (6133)  



	6. Bonds and Debts

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warning**: Language, Violence  
**Note**: The middle of this chapter is also mostly taken from the anime (again, the episode number escapes me).**  
**

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Bonds and Debts

* * *

"I'm _fine_ now! Why can't I just go?" Ichigo whined. 

"Because ya threw up and just saying that it was only 'cause of Ichimaru ain't gonna get you anywhere," Renji replied.

Ichigo made an unhappy noise. After he had lost his lunch, everything had gone black and he had woken up in the campus infirmary with Renji and Kira waiting in the room. Soon after, Kira had left to find somebody to formally discharge him.

"Why does it matter? Guys throw up all the time!" Ichigo was saying.

"I think the whole 'passing out' thing afterwards is what landed ya here, boke."

"So?! Look – I'm fine now! I'm conscious and I've got nothin' left to upchuck anyway!"

"Can't you just have a little patience? Kira will be back soon and then we'll be able to go. Until then, calm down or I'll knock you out myself."

Ichigo glared at him, but shut his mouth all the same.

Shortly after, Kira appeared followed by a nurse.

"Are we feeling better, Kurosaki-san?" the nurse asked, checking the clipboard.

"Shouchi shimashita," Ichigo mumbled politely.

"Can you stand up?"

Ichigo obliged silently. Renji noticed with amusement that his comrade's polite words looked like they left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Any dizziness, fatigue, or blurred vision?"

"Iye…"

She marked a few things off on the sheet and signed her name with a flourish. "Okay then, you can go now, Kurosaki-san. Please try to eat something as soon as you can."

"Shouchi shimashita."

The orange-haired boy was out of there as fast as Renji would allow him to go.

"You know, Kurosaki-san, maybe—"

"Drop the fucking honorifics!" Ichigo snapped.

Kira squeaked. "Ah – Kurosaki, maybe you really just weren't feeling well. I mean, why would Ichimaru-sama make you sick when he didn't affect the rest of us?"

"Kira, did you see what color his eyes were?" Ichigo asked pointedly.

"Of course not – it's impossible to see his eyes."

"They're red."

"H-how could you…?""

"Because he looked at me! He looked right at me and it felt like a snake bit me or somethin' – made me cold all over and I swear my heart was bein' squeezed outta life. _That_'s why I got sick and you didn't."

"G-gomennasai…" Kira mumbled.

"And then that voice of his…" Ichigo shuddered. "Made me sick like eatin' too much of somethin' really super-sweet."

"Ah, I know how that is…"

"I swear I'm gonna kick his ass…"

"'Fore ya do that, ya need t'be fed," Renji pointed out. "You're still shaking."

"Ya make me sound like a pet or somethin'…"

"Shaking?" Kira asked. "Still?"

Ichigo held up a hand and made a fist, the tension causing it to tremble. "You don't know what to look for," he explained with a smirk.

Renji was smirking as well, secretly pleased that he was able to read the smaller boy so well.

Kira was rather amazed. _These two… That level of awareness of each other – is that an effect of the Blood Oath? Or…something else…?_ The blond quickly banished the latter possibility – it was only natural that their trust in each other lead them to know every single little quirk about the other. Besides, two boys _that_ testosterone-driven could hardly be, well, like _that_. It was absurd.

* * *

"Ohayo, Rukia-chan!" Renji yelled, startling their old friend out of her daydreaming. 

"Nani?!" Rukia yelped, falling over. She looked up to find the dorky redhead grinning at her. "Renji?"

"What're you doing 'round here all alone?" Renji asked. "Can't fit in with the brats?"

Rukia fumed. "I can! I'm fitting in just fine! What about you and—" she stopped. She was about to accuse him of the same thing when she saw that not only was Ichigo with him, but a few other guys, and they were all carrying a lot of stuff. "Uhm… What's with all that? You guys have field training or something?"

"Yep! We're headed to the real world to practice with dummy Hollows," Renji explained with a grin.

"Come on, Renji, or we'll be late," Ichigo said, not sounding all too concerned.

"Yeah – well, see ya 'round, Rukia-chan!" Renji ran to catch up with the group, leaving the girl alone once again.

Rukia sighed. "I still remember when you wouldn't leave me behind, Ren-chan…" she said softly. Suddenly, she seemed to remember herself, and violently shook her head. _I'll pass you up, I swear! I don't need you to wait up for me!_ she told herself firmly. But even after her burst of toughness, her heart felt heavy. Her family was breaking away from her, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. She wasn't a part of their bond, and Kitsure had already lost himself to the struggle to prove himself in the social climb. She was at the bottom of the barrel and she was starting to wish she could just go back to Rukongai. At least everybody there was on the same level. She didn't have to prove herself, she just had to keep on living.

* * *

"First we'll do simple introductions. I'm sixth round student, Hisagi." 

"I am Kanisawa."

"I'm Aoga."

Hisagi continued. "The three of us will be your guides."

The students whispered among themselves, making an excited hum of noise.

"'The hell?" Ichigo grumbled. "What's got everybody so talkative?"

"Oi, Kira," Renji asked, "are those senpai famous or somethin'?"

"You don't know?!" Kira spazzed. "Not 'those' – the one in the middle. Hisagi Shuuhei. He's the first in years to receive a squad assignment before his graduation, and they say he's an ultra-promising candidate certain to become a ranked officer in the future."

"He's got '69' tattooed to his face…" Ichigo muttered, not at all impressed.

Kira ignored him and went on. "And by the way, he's failed twice on the entrance exam to the Academy. In that sense, my talent might be greater since I passed at the top of the class."

"Bullshit," Renji and Ichigo said in unison, eyeing the blond. Kira was saved from retorting by the female senpai.

"Okay then," Kanisawa said, "starting now, we'll have you conduct activities in groups of three. Look at the cards we had you pick up earlier and form groups with the others who have the same markings."

"I knew it was gonna be somethin' like that," Renji said.

"Lucky us, we've all got the same ones," Ichigo said. "Too easy."

"Yosh!" Hisagi called after a minute, gaining the attention once more. "Everyone's in groups?"

"Now we'll give a summary of today's field training," Aoga said.

Kanisawa continued. "Sixth round students awaiting us in the living world have created a barrier surrounding an appropriately sized area."

Aoga spoke again. "We will have you conduct combat training therein with dummy Hollows."

Hisagi took over. "While we sixth round students will prepare an easy location to fight in, we won't assist in the combat itself. Got that? Yosh! Let's go!" He turned to the gate as the students responded positively in unison, and unlocked it.

* * *

Renji leapt at the bug-like Hollow as it jumped to the next building, only to knick its back as he came down just short of the roof. "Kira! It's comin' your way!" 

The blond was ready, chanting an incantation as the Hollow approached. The bug jumped at him, attacking. Kira jumped up out of the way and yelled out the name of the kidou as he passed over it, firing off a red fireball. It only succeeded in scorching it with just a little damage, and it continued on its way. "Kurosaki! Get ready!"

The orange-haired boy was already in the air when Kira yelled. With a smirk, he came down right on top of the Hollow, slicing it in half. "Gotcha!"

The bug Hollow came apart, sparking and snapping as the mechanics shut down, the main wires cut.

Ichigo hopped down to the ground, joining his team.

"That was almost too easy," Renji said, sounding irked about it.

Ichigo chuckled, seeing that the redhead had enjoyed the real training.

"It would've been harder alone," Kira noted. "The element of surprise is essential."

"Che – it woulda been easy alone, too. At least for me," Renji bragged.

"Dude, you were first and you barely hit it," Ichigo pointed out, popping his friend's bubble.

"Hey! I would've killed it, but I didn't wanna leave you guys out of the fun – that's all. It's just a dummy Hollow – I wanna fight a _real_ one."

"Would you at least _try_ to kill a real Hollow, then?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Kira shook his head and started walking back to their rally point.

"It means yer lame," Ichigo said bluntly, shoving the redhead to follow Kira.

"Hey!"

The bickering died down as they walked.

Suddenly, Ichigo stopped and looked back behind them. _What the…_

"What's up, Ichii?" Renji asked. The other two had stopped a few steps ahead.

Ichigo watched the empty space for another moment before turning back to them and catching up, "Nothin'. Just thought I felt somethin' weird."

The three resumed their walk.

When they got close to the point, a sudden scream caught their attention.

"What was that?" Renji asked.

"Somethin' not good," Ichigo muttered.

"Let's hurry," Kira said, panic clear in his voice as he ran forward, the other two not long in following.

As they rounded the corner, what they saw stopped them dead in their tracks. The other students were moving back in fear, away from the gigantic Hollow that appeared to have the female sixth rounder impaled on its claw. As they watched, the Hollow flung Kanisawa's limp body away.

Aoga and Hisaki had their swords drawn. Aoga cursed the Hollow and charged, not heading the warning yelled by the third senpai.

The Hollow impaled him, too.

"Get out of here, freshmen – run!" Hisagi yelled. "Run as far as you can!"

The students needed no more warning as they all turned tail and ran away, screaming.

"That's a real Hollow?!" Renji asked, bewildered. He'd seen Hollows in Rukongai before, but this thing was _huge_!! No way could a real Hollow be that large! Renji started running away too, following Kira. A few steps away and Renji noticed Ichigo wasn't with them.

He spotted the orange-haired boy standing in the middle of the road, transfixed as everybody rushed past.

"Ichigo! Let's go!" Renji yelled. "What the hell you doin'?!"

"We have to run! The group leader's orders are absolute!" Kira added, knowing it was hopeless to throw authority into it, but it couldn't hurt to try.

"Demo…" Ichigo seemed to wake up a bit, only to get a determined look on his face that Renji knew was only going to get them killed.

"Idiot! _Two_ sixth rounders were _killed_! It's hopeless!"

"Demo—!" Ichigo rounded on him. "That's the Hollow that ate my nakama!" he yelled before running towards Shuuhei and the Hollow.

"Ichigo!"

"Kurosaki!!"

Kira and Renji both ran after him.

Shuuhei was getting his butt kicked pretty badly. The Hollow's claw had split into a rake-like weapon and was about to impale the senpai on its numerous spikes when three swords intercepted their path, saving Hisagi.

"Y-you guys…" Hisagi was stunned – he'd been saved by freshmen!

"Our deepest apologies!" Kira said, struggling to hold his own. "We are disobeying orders!"

"We came ta save ya, so overlook that, alright, senpai?" Renji added.

They managed to knock the spikes away, and Ichigo started the incantation for the kidou spell. Kira and Renji joined in, yelling out the name simultaneously and sending three Red Flame Cannons into the Hollow's face.

"Senpai! Now, while we have a chance!" Kira yelled, and the four ran down another street, away from the screaming Hollow.

"How could something that huge get so close?" Renji asked as they ran.

"I don't know!" Shuuhei snapped.

"It can hide, right?" Ichigo asked. "It hides its reiatsu."

"I've never heard of it, but yeah, probably. That's the only explanation."

"We can't defeat that thing by ourselves!" Kira cried, voicing the real issue at hand. "What're we gonna do?!"

"I requested assistance from Soul Society. We just have to evade it until help arrives."

They kept running and rounded another corner, only to be stopped by a weird force.

"What the…" Shuuhei growled. "The surroundings are starting to deform…"

Suddenly, several black holes appeared and out of each one stepped a Hollow just as big as the last one.

Kira screamed.

"Holy shit…" Ichigo said, mixed with fear, rage, and awe.

"It called it's buddies," Renji growled, trying to hide that he was scared shitless.

"This many Huge Hollows…" Shuuhei panted. "It's impossible!"

"It's not real…" Kira whimpered. "This… No… I don't wanna die… I don't wanna die." His voice broke and wavered until he resorted to whimpers and choked sobs. A Hollow opened its mouth, revealing the telltale light of a forming Cero, and Kira screamed again.

A bluish-white light shot through the Hollow's mask, destroying it.

The four stood in awe as the light faded, revealing an impossibly long sword stretched above them.

"Sorry for the wait," a smooth voice said. "We've come to assist."

Hisagi straightened himself up, eyes wide. "You gentlemen are…fifth squad… Aizen-taichou! Ichimaru-fukutaichou!"

Indeed, the four-eyed brunette and the snake-faced man were walking towards them. The sword that had saved them was Ichimaru's, though it was back to normal as he approached.

Ichigo braced himself, keeping an eye on the silver-haired vice captain, but Ichimaru didn't seem to take any interest in him.

"You stuck it out well," Aizen said. "Everything will be alright now. You can leave this to us."

The duo continued on towards the Hollows.

"Whew – this here's quite a number of 'em," Ichimaru drawled.

Ichigo winced as the same sick feeling stirred in his gut.

"Shoot to death, Shinsou," Ichimaru said calmly in that same drawl, and the sword extended piercing the masks of seven Hollows through a series of whip-like maneuvers.

The eighth went for Aizen, who stopped its fist with his hand emitting a blue-white light. The light expanded and essentially vaporized the Hollow.

"S-sugoi…" Kira squeaked, his high-pitched voice barely audible.

"Okay, _now_ they look like somethin'…" Ichigo whispered to Renji, who was just as amazed.

* * *

Aizen and Ichimaru safely lead the students back to the Academy, where Shuuhei was taken to the infirmary. Kira, Renji, and Ichigo had to be checked up on as well, though they suffered nothing more than minor scratches and a pretty big scare. Because of that, though, the nurses served them some hot tea to calm their nerves. 

"Ah, Ichigo…" Kira started hesitantly, breaking the silence.

Ichigo looked up at him.

"What…were you talking about? When you said it was the Hollow that ate your nakama?"

Ichigo looked back down at his tea. "In Rukongai – Inuzuri, the 78th district, before I met Renji, I had a group of friends – my family, really. Every once in a while, a random Hollow would appear around there and eat up a good number of people. One day, a huge Hollow appeared, though nobody could tell until it showed itself. When it did, it was because it…had found me… I only knew it was after me because it spoke inside my head – it said I looked like a tasty meal, tastier than a shinigami, even. Then it ate my nakama and I ran for it. I swore to kill it… I promised them I would…" his voice started shaking and he gripped his cup tighter.

Renji pried his friend's fingers from the cup before he could break it and set it down on the table. Ichigo let it go and dug the heels of his palms in his eyes.

"But…the Hollow is dead now… Isn't that a good thing?" Kira asked softly, not exactly understanding why Ichigo was so upset.

"Yeah – it's great," the boy snapped. "It's just fucking great." He looked up, his brown eyes filled with an indescribable pain. "Except I got fucking protected – _again_!!"

"Ichii, calm down," Renji said calmly, running his hand through the soft orange hair.

"Do you know…how many times I've been protected?" Ichigo said, his voice suddenly emotionless as he stared at Kira.

"Uh…" Kira wasn't sure how he should answer – in fact, he was wondering if he should even be there. His obvious ignorance in the matter wasn't helping things at all.

"First, my mother protected me from a Hollow, getting her soul eaten while I merely died of my injuries. Second, my old comrades stood between that Hollow and me and told me to run. The third and fourth were by this idiot here – he just didn't sacrifice himself to do so."

"You counting when we first met?" Renji asked.

Ichigo nodded. "You saved me, even if it was just 'cause I was in a sorry state. And now this…the fifth time. And now I'm indebted to that snake-faced creep."

"Oh… Gomennasai…" Kira said softly. Just the glimpse into Ichigo's life made him wonder how much more tragedy surrounded the two. But he could understand the pain of being in debt to somebody you despise. He bowed his head before speaking again. "Ichigo, I… You weren't…scared. Back there. Not as scared as I was. Both you and Renji were very… _exceptionally_ brave. You didn't need to be saved as much as I did. I was the one who froze up. You were ready to fight to the death – I could see it in that face of yours. That determination. You have my undying respect, and for that, I will be the one to bear the debt to Ichimaru-fukutaichou. I will bear the debt to him for both of you and myself."

"Kira…"

Kira lifted his head and gave him a smile. "It's the least I can do. I do not expect anything from you – you've already done more than enough just by being my friend. This is my way of thanking you for that."

Ichigo bowed his head in return. "Arigatou, Kira-san."

Kira chuckled. "Drop the honorifics," he said, copying Ichigo's normal complaint about such things.

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

Vocabulary... 

Shouchi shimashita: Yes, ma'am/sir  
Iye: Nope  
Senpai: senior student  
Yosh: Alright/Great/Okay

* * *

(3029) (9162)  



	7. Etched in the Heart

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warning**: Character Death, Language, Violence, Kissing

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Etched in the Heart

* * *

Renji sat with his knees pulled up, his arms crossed on them, half-hiding his face. Ichigo sat right next to him, his knees pulled up halfway and his hands on the ground behind him. Kira stood near them. The three pairs of eyes were fixed on a gravestone etched with a single name… 

_Rukia_.

Her death had come with two others. Even after the field training incident three years prior, they hadn't cut back on doing them – they only increased security. That being said, during Rukia's first field training, a Hollow somehow infiltrated the barrier and attacked Rukia and her group, who were the first ones it encountered. The screams alerted the presiding senpai and they were able to dispatch of the Hollow, but not before it had devoured two of the three souls. Rukia had only been killed.

Upon hearing the news from Kitsure, Ichigo and Renji had at first not believed him, accusing him of a cruel joke. Too indignant to attempt to prove it through words, he lead them to her grave, where they sat now, numb, too stunned to show any emotion. Kitsure had left them there, not being able to stand the depressing atmosphere.

"At least…she'll be reincarnated," Ichigo said softly, becoming unnerved by the dismal silence.

Renji made a soft sound, but otherwise didn't respond.

Ichigo frowned and looked over at Kira. The blond picked up on the silent plea to leave them alone. "I'll go save you two some food from the cafeteria," he said softly, turning to leave.

"Arigatou, Izuru," Ichigo replied in a near whisper, nodding his head in gratitude.

"Please don't stay out too long – it looks like it's going to rain," Kira added before he was gone.

Ichigo turned and slipped his arm around Renji's shoulders from the front, pulling him into hug. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this," he said calmly in his ear, not without all the concern and comfort any friend could ask for. He went on when Renji didn't respond. "You did everything expected of you – this is not your fault. Not even the slightest bit."

Renji rested his head against Ichigo's. After a minute of silence, he spoke. "Ichigo…?" His voice was strained, even in the whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Why…am I not crying…? …I just feel…numb…all over. Like this can't be real…"

Ichigo embraced him a little tighter. "I feel the same…"

"I cried over Jordan…"

"We were kids…"

"You didn't cry."

"Yeah I did, just not like you did."

Another lapse of silence. Raindrops started to fall.

"Ichii… Did you… Did you love her, too?"

Ichigo didn't answer right away. "I don't know…" he said finally. "Maybe."

"Aren't people…supposed to cry…when somebody they love dies?"

Another hesitation. "I don't know."

Renji pulled himself away and pushed Ichigo to see his face. "What about when your mother died?"

Ichigo leaned back on his hands again and averted his eyes. "I was…too guilty to even cry…"

"What happened?" It was starting to rain harder and they were getting soaked.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, tilting his head back to look up at the darkening clouds, his eyes closed.

"I don't know… I've never had to deal with a loved one dying. I don't know…if I'm reacting right…"

Ichigo opened his eyes and looked away before he answered. "It was pouring – like it is now. It'd been pourin' for days. The river my mom'n'I walked along every day on our way home from my karate class was startin' to overflow. I saw a kid at the edge, lookin' like she was gonna jump – had a real sad look 'bout her." He paused. "I couldn't tell real people from the dead ones back then. I just assumed anybody I could see was real… So I ran down to her, wantin' to keep her from jumpin'. My mom came after me – must'a thought I was gonna jump in myself or somethin'. I don't know what exactly happened, but I remember the sight of that Hollow…eatin' my mom's soul…while my mom's body was on top of me, an' we were all covered in blood… …When I woke up again, I was in the hospital with all sorts a'tubes and shit goin' in an' outta me. My old man was sittin' next to my bed, lookin' the saddest I'd ever seen anybody – red eyes, pale face, just looked sick all over… I wanted to ask him what happened, but my voice didn't work. My whole body wouldn't move – couldn't feel a thing. After a bit, somebody came by with my baby sisters. Yuzu started cryin' – pro'ly been cryin' b'fore, too. Karin looked real sad, too, but she wouldn't cry. My old man picked Yuzu up and she asked 'Where's Mommy? What's wrong with Ichi-nii?' an' he tried to smile an' he said 'Mommy saved your big brother. She protected him from a very bad thing…' an' he couldn't say anythin' else 'cause he started cryin' again, huggin' Yuzu. An' she just looked so confused an' asked all hysterical, 'Where's Mommy? I wanna see Mommy!' an' Karin must'a snapped right then 'cause she said, 'Mom's dead. She's not comin' back an' Ichi-nii might not either.' An' my old man couldn't say anythin' 'cause it was true. I remember everythin' that happened in that room – every little detail. I remember seein' the pain in their faces – hearin' it in their voice. They were hurtin' 'cause our momma was gone an' I…I was the one that took her away… It was all my fault our momma was dead. An' I just…couldn't live with myself knowin' that – couldn't stand that guilt. I didn't deserve to be alive when it was all my fault she was dead… So I closed my eyes…an' I lost my will to live. I couldn't cry then. I can't cry now."

Silence fell again, but only for a moment.

"We all react diff'rently. Don't mean it's right or wrong – it's just the way we are."

Renji nodded.

"We'll honor her memory, but we can't dwell on it – she wouldn't want that."

Renji gave a slight smile. "She'd probably yell at us for sittin' out in the rain like this."

Ichigo chuckled softly. "Good point – it's freezin'," he said, getting to his feet. He helped Renji up and they both ran back to the dorms as the skies began to rumble.

* * *

After a hot shower and a change into dry clothes, they tracked down Kira in the dining hall, who was working on his homework with two uneaten bento opposite him. 

"There you are – I was starting to worry," Kira said as they sat down.

"Yeah – thanks for the food," Ichigo said with a smile.

The blond gave a dismissive wave. "Anything for a friend."

Renji ate his food in silence.

Kira leaned over to Ichigo. "Is Renji okay?" he whispered.

"He will be," Ichigo answered before flinging a small ball of rice at the redhead.

The rice smacked him in the face. "What the…" He glared at the innocent-looking Ichigo, who was bent over his rice, his chopsticks in his mouth. "Teme…" he growled, making Ichigo break and laugh, lifting up his head, only to be assaulted by a flying piece of carrot.

"H-hey!" he laughed.

Renji managed a smirk and a chuckle. "You started it," he said childishly.

"Couldn't help it – ya looked so sulky. At least fake enthusiasm in public."

The redhead put on a huge, sarcastic grin. "Fuck you," he added in an overly happy tone.

"Good boy!" Ichigo said, flinging a piece of carrot at him.

Renji reverted back to a fake scowl as he caught the piece and flung it right back at him. "I ain't a dog!"

The orange-haired man blocked it, chuckling. "You sure 'bout that?"

Renji just stuck his tongue out, making a face.

Ichigo mock-glared at him before sticking his own tongue out and touching it to his nose.

Renji stared at him before cracking up, causing Ichigo to do the same.

Kira smiled to himself as the boys laughed together. It was tragic, of course, that their friend had died, but they were lucky to have each other to help get them past it. It was a good thing that they could laugh and joke and not dwell too much on her. Nothing good came of excessive mourning.

* * *

"_Ichii… Did you… Did you love her, too?"_

"_I don't know… Maybe."_

Ichigo lay awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. _Did he love her…? He just looked so sad… I know why he didn't cry – it's the same reason I can't cry. Death is so common to us. The pain is still there, but we can't cry. It's useless to cry over something so inevitable. But…did he love her?_

He held up his hand in the moonlight streaming through the window, looking at the scar etched across his palm. …Could _he love her? Did this… Did _I _take that away? Am I…that selfish? This Oath… We swore our lives to each other – our loyalty to each other. Did we… Were we really too young to understand what we did?_

He closed his hand into a fist and rested it against his forehead, eyes closed, and Kira's voice filtered through his thoughts. "_The level of commitment to one another – it's very rare to find it nowadays. Especially in our generation. I can't imagine the amount of trust you two must have in each other, and then to be willing to die for that loyalty…"_

_We _have _done something much too complex for us to understand, haven't we? No – not we. _I_. I dragged him into this, not knowing what exactly what we were doing. I only wanted a bond – something concrete. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't be left alone… I didn't… I didn't think—I didn't _know _that that kind of bond…doesn't leave room for anybody else. It's just us, and I forced him into it. I…_ ­– he gave a sad chuckle – _I took his heart all for myself, and he doesn't know what that means…_

He opened his eyes again and lay still for a moment before getting up.

* * *

Renji was half-asleep when he heard the almost-timid knock at his door. He frowned, sensing Ichigo's agitated reiatsu, and got up. When he opened the door, he found the orange-haired boy standing with his head bowed. 

"Somethin' wrong?" Renji asked.

"I… I wanted to apologize," Ichigo said softly.

"Apologize? For what? Wait—here, come in," Renji said, stepping back, pulling the boy inside, before shutting the door.

"I wanted to apologize…for making you take the Blood Oath with me."

"What're you—"

"Let me explain!" Ichigo snapped before looking up at him, his brown eyes threatening to spill over with tears. "I… I think we may have gotten ourselves into something more complicated than I thought," he said before he had to look down at the ground again. "When we swore our lives and our loyalty to each other, I didn't realize I was dragging you into something out of my own selfishness. I made you create this bond with me, and I didn't think to realize that you… That maybe we didn't understand that this bond doesn't leave room for anybody else. I was thinking about it – what you asked: if I loved her, _too_. I didn't know that you wanted to love her and I don't think this bond allowed you to love her…"

"Damare, Ichii…" Renji said calmly. "Whatever this bond is, or whatever it means, it's on an entirely different level from everything else. No matter how many people I choose to love, nothing's going to change what we have."

Ichigo lifted his head, looking at his comrade.

"And you didn't drag me into it. I was smart enough to know that anything sealed in blood was especially deep. If I had any doubts about that, I wouldn't have done it."

"Then you… Did you…want to love her?"

Renji chuckled. "Iye. She was like a little sister. I loved her like a little sister. I wasn't _in_ love with her."

"Then do you… What would you call…what we have?"

"I dunno," Renji said with a shrug. "We call it a blood bond, but…that doesn't really describe it very well…"

"Then what _would_ describe it?"

Renji just smirked as he ran his fingers through the orange hair just above Ichigo's ear – an action so familiar, Ichigo didn't think to react until Renji leaned forward and softly pressed his lips against his. At that point, he was so stunned, he barely registered when Renji pulled away gently, watching his reaction. "Words can't describe this, Ichii…"

Silently, slowly, Ichigo allowed his expression to soften. "No… I guess they can't," he whispered with a shy smile.

Renji couldn't help but chuckle softly and press his lips to the younger boy's forehead.

"But…you said…we didn't need rumors spreading that we're gay…"

"And?"

"Why… What…are we…" He shook his head, trying to compose himself. "Why're you doing this?"

"Ichii, if rumors haven't started already, they aren't going to as long as we don't do anything weird in public."

"But…I thought you didn't want…you didn't want…"

"I didn't want this?"

Ichigo nodded, averting his eyes with a light tinge of pink in his face.

Renji smirked. "I never said anythin' like that. I said we didn't need rumors that we're gay – I didn't say 'I don't want people thinkin' we're gay.' And if rumors start now – so what? We've got two and a half more years here. It doesn't matter any more."

"Why did it matter back then?"

"Because we were still trying to make a name for ourselves. It woulda been harder for us if everybody thought we were queer. Now we've got our name. We've got our friends. It doesn't matter now… C'mon, you look tired. We should get some sleep," he added, tugging Ichigo over to the bed by his hand.

"W-wait…"

Renji studied him for a moment. "If you don't want this, just say so. We'll pretend this didn't happen."

"It… It's not that. I want this – I want _you_. But, I mean…I _have_ you. I've always had you. It was just with the Blood Oath – not…not this. Even with the Oath, we were pushing it – it was—it _is_ something complicated, something we couldn't really understand then. This… This is a lot more complicated than that. We're still…_way_ too young to understand it—"

"You think too much," Renji said, cutting him off. "Nothing is as complicated as you think it is. The Blood Oath and this love are one and the same. It's special, and it's rare, and it's just between the two of us. It's putting our lives and our hearts in each other's hands. The only difference…is this." He held his hand out, palm up, and smirked. "We can't explain it, but we can feel it. You can understand that, right?"

Ichigo nodded with a smile. "Yeah. Arigatou, Renji."

"Heh. C'mon, it's been a long day."

The orange-haired boy nodded again and they climbed into Renji's bed together, cuddled together like they used to do when they were little.

After a minute, Ichigo spoke. "Renji?"

"Hm?"

Ichigo lifted his head and pressed his lips against Renji's. "Good night."

Renji smiled. "Good night."

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

Vocabulary... 

Bento: _lit_. "box lunch" (Note: Google it) (Footnote: I remember a friend telling me that some people mistakenly call it "bento box," which would translate to "box lunch box" – it's the same American logic that makes people say "chai tea," which translates to "tea tea")  
Teme: (_vulger_) you (akin to "you bastard")

* * *

(2578) (11740)  



	8. Secrets, Lies, & Fire Under a Full Moon

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warning**: Language, Violence

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Secrets, Lies, and Fire Under a Full Moon

* * *

They managed to keep it secret for a few weeks. They were careful about sneaking into each other's rooms, locking the door, and keeping their reiatsu hidden. In public, Ichigo had started to keep himself from leaning on Renji or using him as a pillow since newly forming habits would more than likely make him do something on accident. It worked, and nobody was the wiser. 

Until they got caught.

* * *

Ichigo slipped out of Renji's room early in the morning, before everybody else was up. He had already checked for nearby reiatsu signatures to make sure his path was clear, so he wasn't expecting somebody to speak. 

"Knew it."

The orange-haired boy jumped and froze. "Kitsure?" he whispered, looking behind him.

"Yo," the raven-haired boy greeted sarcastically. "Heh. I wonder what the guys in your class would say if they found out?" he teased, a particularly malicious smirk on his face.

"You wouldn't…" Ichigo warned, facing him. "And what do you think you know, anyway?"

"Oh please – you two've been actin' funny for nearly three weeks now. Doesn't take a genius to figure out somethin's goin' on between you guys. To give you some credit, I've been watchin' you guys for a few days – see ya sneakin' in an' out of yer rooms, lockin' the doors, hidin' yerselves. Plus you're not bein' as touchy-feely as you used to be."

"What's that prove? You're just tryin' to find somethin' that ain't there. Nothin's goin' on."

"Then why're you two sneakin in an' out of each other's rooms?"

"We're workin' on somethin'," Ichigo replied with a shrug. "It's none a'yer business."

Kitsure snorted and in one swift movement, he had Ichigo shoved up against the wall. "Like yell ya are, ya little freak."

Ichigo winced a bit. "Fuck… Goddammit, Kit… Fine – if you wanna be so fuckin' pushy 'bout it… Kira's birthday's on the twenty-seventh. Renji and I are workin' on a present for him."

"A present?" His grip loosened.

"Yeah – he's been helpin' us out with kidou, so we've been workin' on a harder one on our own to show off to him as a thanks. You fuckin' happy now, bastard?"

Kitsure dropped him and walked off without saying anything. Ichigo watched him until he was out of sight before bolting for his room.

* * *

"Kit's onto us," Ichigo muttered later that morning at breakfast. 

"He's been onto us since day one, Ichii," Renji pointed out before biting into a roll.

"Earlier, when I left – you noticed when I was stopped?"

"To tell you the truth, I was out cold. I didn't notice anything – sorry."

Ichigo waved dismissively. "Oh well. He caught me sneaking out."

"Sneaking out where?" Kira asked, sitting down with them.

"Don't worry about it," they said in unison.

"Erm…alright…"

"Sorry Kira," Ichigo said with a small smirk, "Kitsure's been buggin' us."

"About what?"

"He just thinks he knows something he doesn't," Renji explained.

"By the way, if he says anything to you about kidou, just go with it," Ichigo added.

Renji eyed him. "What did you tell him?"

Ichigo paused, trying to find Kitsure's signature. "Is he anywhere?"

The redhead looked around. "Not nearby."

"I told him we were workin' on a hard kidou to show off to Kira as his birthday present as thanks for helpin' us out with kidou," he muttered. "It was the first thing that I could come up with."

"My birthday?" Kira asked.

"Please go with it, Kira," Ichigo said with a sigh.

Knowing better than to meddle in his friends' affairs, he let it go.

* * *

During their break, Renji pulled Ichigo into an empty, dark, small lecture room. 

"What're you up to?"

Renji just smirked and lead him in the first row before gently pushing him up on the countertop and kissing him.

"Ren—Renji!" Ichigo hissed shoving him back just enough to speak. "We can't do this here!"

"Why not? Nobody comes down here," Renji said, sitting down on the bench. He forced his eyes to stay looking at Ichigo's face.

"That doesn't matter! Dammit – Kit's probably followed us, too!" Ichigo looked back at the closed door as his hands gripped the edge of the counter between his legs.

"What're you so scared of? So what if Kit finds out? We can keep him quiet – I've got blackmail."

Ichigo sighed and looked back at him. "But still – why here? Why now?"

"I dunno," Renji said, standing up and nipping lightly at Ichigo's earlobe. "It's kinda fun."

Ichigo shuddered a bit. His senses were hyperaware and hypersensitive out of fear – it made everything Renji did that much more exciting. Okay, maybe it _was_ fun. "If we get caught, I'm crying rape," he warned in a low voice in Renji's ear.

Renji smirked. "Can't rape the willing," he teased before biting at his neck, just below his jaw.

"A-ah! Not so high!" he whined.

The redhead snorted with a smirk. "Fine." He pulled Ichigo's top from his shoulder and bit at his collarbone, leaving a mark.

"Renji, please be careful…"

Renji didn't seem to hear him as he kissed and nipped at more of Ichigo's skin, pulling his top down further in the process. "Move your hands."

"W-what? Renji – you're going too fa—a-ah…!" He was cut off as Renji's tongue ghosted over his nipple. With a nervous check of nearby signatures, he slowly complied, moving his hands away from his lap.

"What was that about me going too far?" Renji teased.

Ichigo averted his eyes and blushed, making a small noise.

Renji's smirk widened. "What's this?" he teased before gently running his hand over Ichigo's crotch through his clothes.

The orange-haired boy squeaked. "Re-Renji!" He froze, sensing somebody approaching. "Down!" he hissed, hopping off the desktop to grab the redhead and shove him down out of sight. They both laid still, hardly breathing, keeping their reiatsu pulled in as tight as possible. When the owner of the signature turned around and went out of their range, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"You two are pathetic," a familiar voice said from above them.

"Kit!" Ichigo hissed.

Indeed, the boy was crouched at the edge of the countertop, looking down at them. "So, more kidou practice, I assume?" he said sarcastically, focusing his grey eyes on the half-way shirtless Ichigo.

The two separated themselves and Ichigo pulled his top back on straight. "Shut it, Kitsure…"

Renji sat on the bench. "Figured you'd show up," he said with a smirk.

"You did this on purpose?!" Ichigo snapped.

"Kit's a little closet voyeur – no surprised he'd start stalking us once he suspected something."

"You make it sound perverted," Kitsure snapped, glaring at him.

"You are," Renji retorted, shoving him back with his foot.

Kitsure easily moved out of the way before choosing a more stable position to sit in. "I'm not perverted – I just like finding out dirty secrets, that's all. Oh, what's to become of your reputation when they find out that you've been indulging in lewd conduct in a classroom, of all places!" he added with a malicious glint in his eye. "Not to mention being outed. Damn, must suck to be you guys," he deadpanned.

"Kit, please…" Ichigo whined.

"So?" Renji replied with a shrug. "I'll just tell everybody about your little stalker ability. That should be enough to scare the girls at least. You might even be able to get beat up by some of the guys. And when they find out you've been stalking _us_, you'll be the one outed as a sick pervert. Doesn't matter what they think of us."

Kitsure scowled. "I'm not a _stalker_—"

"Coulda fooled me."

He growled low, clearly peeved at the situation. "What do you want?"

"Stop stalkin' us and keep your mouth shut. The first time you say _anything_ and everybody's gonna know you're a stalker and a voyeur. Don't underestimate me."

"Wouldn't think of it," Kitsure said acerbically. "You done threatening me?"

"I think so. Oh, also – don't lay a hand on Ichigo again or my mouth may just slip a few choice words to a few choice people."

"Tch…" Kitsure quickly made himself scarce.

"You don't need to protect me from him, Renji," Ichigo said, coming out from under the countertop.

"It's not like that. I guess I'm just the jealous, possessive type. I could still tell where he had his hands on you from this morning – thanks for telling me he shoved you, by the way," he added sarcastically.

"Minor detail."

"Well, it just pisses me off."

Ichigo smirked and kissed him. "You're an idiot," he teased.

* * *

"This is a really bad idea, Ren," Ichigo groaned. He sat on his bed in normal clothes, watching the redhead leaning against the closed door. "Anybody who knows us _knows_ we're only fourth-rounders. And we don't exactly blend in." 

"Anybody who knows us won't care. Besides, it's just this one time."

"We could get caught!"

"By who? The fifth- and sixth-rounders who know us respect us. We've got their protection."

"What about Kit?"

"Kit will have to explain why he was outside, too, and he can't risk that. Besides, I can blackmail him."

"If he—" Ichigo cut himself off, shaking his head with an exasperated sigh.

"He won't follow us, Ichii," Renji said, reassuring him. "He can't risk getting caught."

"We can't catch him, idiot! He was right above us and we didn't sense him!"

"_You_ didn't sense him. I did. I can find him as long as he's close and I'm looking for him."

"Then why didn't you sense him when he was watching us for the past week?"

"Wasn't lookin' for him," he retorted in a matter-of-factly tone. "Come on – coast's clear."

Within the minute, they were outside. The crystal clear sky and crisp, cool breeze were enough to drive Ichigo's tiredness and skepticism out completely, replacing them with hyperactivity and carelessness. They were running, feet bare, through the dewy grass, bringing back happier childhood memories. An inexplicable energy ran through them, urging them to run faster, begging for an outlet, as if they might explode if they attempted to contain it. The full moon was rising, huge and impossibly white on the edge of the horizon, making the night all the more beautiful and wonderful.

"Ichii!" Renji suddenly called, grabbing the boy's wrist, reversing his direction away from the long downhill slope leading to the grassless field where the bonfire was blazing.

Ichigo did a complete one-eighty into Renji's arms, and kissed him hard, wrapping his arms around his neck, pulling them close together.

"Ohmygod," Renji panted against his lips. "You have any idea what you were doing?" he asked with a laugh.

"'The hell you talkin' about?" Ichigo asked, breathless, keeping his face close, resting his forehead against his.

"Shunpo," he said with a grin, kissing him again. "You fucking flash-stepped right ahead of me – I just barely saw you in time."

The smaller boy giggled. "You're delusional, Ren…" Even as he said that, he thought back. He had been running pretty fast, but Renji had been ahead of him the whole time, until… His eyes went wide. "Holy—How did—?!"

Renji laughed and kissed him again. Ichigo closed his eyes and pulled himself closer, feeling their hearts still pounding against their chests, beating in time. After a heated moment, they lost their balance, broke their kiss, and fell over, tumbling down the grassy hill. They stopped halfway down, sprawled in the tall grass, damp, disheveled, and laughing the entire time.

They sat up next to each other, Renji leaning back on his hands, Ichigo with his knees pulled up, arms crossed over them, and watched the bonfire several hundred feet away from them.

"Still think this was a bad idea?" Renji asked softly, his eyes shining as he looked and smiled at him.

Ichigo looked back at him, his brown eyes dancing in the firelight. Then he leaned against him, kissing him slowly, deeply. When they pulled back, the boy gave a small chuckle. "Aishiteru."

In the light of the fire and the moon, Renji blushed, matching the color tinting his partner's face, and kissed him again. They had never once actually said that out loud. They showed it – physically, and not just with the scar on their hands. They knew it – every part of them knew it. The never said it, though – it had always seemed so cheesy, so fake, so out of place. They settled for secret glances, suppressed smiles, stolen kisses in public. Never words. Words screwed things up.

When they broke apart for air, Renji chuckled softly. "Forever 'n' ever?" he asked quietly, nuzzling his neck, resting his head on his shoulder.

Ichigo smiled at the childish phrase. "Forever 'n' ever," he confirmed in a near-whisper.

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

Vocabulary... 

Aishiteru: I love you (_lit_. love)

* * *

(2143) (13883)  



	9. Next to Impossible

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warning**: Idiocy...  
**Note**: Despite the little almost-smut scene from last chapter, I'm not writing sex this time. Not yet anyway. Maybe later, but not anytime soon. And last chapter was basically the end of the "cute and fluffy" arc and this would be the start of the "oh snap - drama" arc.

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Next to Impossible Still isn't Impossible

* * *

After graduation, Renji, Ichigo, Kira, and Hinamori were all accepted into the fifth division, while Kitsure disappeared into the second. Within six years, Ichimaru was promoted to captain of the third division, taking Kira along as his vice captain. Hinamori was then promoted to the fifth division's vice captain, and Renji and Ichigo were bumped into the eleventh division at the request of Zaraki Kenpachi. 

However, it wasn't until ten years later that something unexpected happened that turned the world on its head for Ichigo and Renji.

* * *

"I'm on patrol again – two months this time," Ichigo said that night. "I have to leave tomorrow morning." 

"Two months? Shit – why so long?" Renji grumbled. Patrol in the real world was nothing new – they'd both been on quite a few trips, but never an extended stay.

"Just be thankful it's not longer. We're still short-staffed, remember?"

Renji sighed and sat down on the bed next to his lover. "Yeah, I remember, but still…"

Ichigo chuckled. "You can't go two months without me?"

"I can barely go two _weeks_ without you – it sucks tryin' to remember how to sleep alone."

"Aye, I know. It's not like it's gonna be a cake-walk for me, either."

"Yeah, but you'll be worn out from killing those damn Hollows."

"I'm pretty sure Kenpachi isn't gonna let you off easy, either."

Renji couldn't help but chuckle grimly. Within the first week of being in the eleventh division, Yachiru hadn't hesitated to label them "boyfriends," which was completely embarrassing, but after laughing it off, everybody else had taken it as a joke, just another one of Yachiru's nicknames. Everybody but their captain, anyway, who was way too keen on noticing how their moods shifted around each other, and had gladly taken it upon himself to make their lives a living hell when they were apart. When Ichigo had finally bitched at him about it (he was the only one brave enough – and fast enough – to even think about talking to their captain that way), Zaraki just said he was doing them a favor by distracting them. All in all, his intentions were well-placed – after all, they really should learn how fight at their best even when apart. Though that still didn't change the fact that it was still a living hell.

"Do I get—" Before he could even get a coherent sentence out, Ichigo had pounced him, cutting off his words with a heated, passionate kiss. Renji practically purred in anticipation. They _hated_ being separated, but the sex before and after was fucking _unbelievable_.

* * *

Ichigo sat on the ledge of a skyscraper, looking out over the horizon at the setting sun that marked his second day in Karakura. It was ironic, really, that he was now a shinigami in the same town he'd lived and died in nearly a century prior. He had already gone around to the places he once knew, only to find they had changed drastically. Almost everything had changed. 

The cell phone went off. He sighed and took it out, locating a low-level Hollow nearby. _What a pain…_ He hopped from his ledge, locking onto the Hollow's reiatsu, and began the tedious task of hunting it down and killing it.

When he finally found it, it was chasing a young girl, who was screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs. _Sounds kinda like Rukia…_ he thought to himself with a smirk. Quickly, he took Zangetsu from the sheath on his back and dove at the fish-faced Hollow, shattering its mask in one blow. Within the moment, the Hollow dissipated, leaving Ichigo with the young girl who had tripped over herself and was now on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the shinigami before her.

"Wh-who are you?" she asked in a timid voice.

Ichigo sheathed his zanpakutou again before looking at her. At first, he'd just figured she was a soul, but upon noticing the lack of a chain, he realized the girl was human. He also realized that the girl looked almost _exactly_ like…

"Rukia?" he said before he could stop himself.

The girl turned indignant, as well as scared. "Who are you? How do you know my name?!" she practically screeched.

_Idiot…_ "Lucky guess?" he tried, staying cool.

She didn't buy it. "Yeah right! Are you some creepy stalker?!"

"If I was a stalker, I wouldn't have said your name, idiot!" he snapped. God, this girl was just as stupid as Rukia, too!

The girl was on her feet now. "How dare you call me that! Don't you know who I am? I'm the sister of the famous Kuchiki Byakuya! I can have you arrested!"

Ichigo's brain started hurting. He sighed. "So it's Kuchiki Rukia, then?" he said, pointing out her obvious idiocy of giving away her full name.

That realization seemed to have hit her as well. "W-well… What's your name?" She was attempting to save face.

"Kurosaki Ichigo. And I'm not a stalker, I'm a shinigami. The thing chasing you was a Hollow, which I'm supposed to slay in order to protect souls and humans like you." He decided to get all the questions answered before she thought he was some sort of creep or crazy. "And your name really was a lucky guess – you look like a girl I used to know whose name was also Rukia," he added.

"Oh… What's a shinigami?" Now that her savior wasn't quite so scary to her, she was extremely curious.

"Don't you have someplace to be? It's kinda late," Ichigo pointed out, almost irritated. He really wasn't in the mood to explain something like that to her, even though it was an almost welcome break from the monotony of his job.

Rukia looked at her watch. "It's only six-fifteen," she said. "I know! Why don't you come over to my house? Are you hungry? You can stay for dinner – my thanks for saving me!" She was practically bubbling now.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Humans aren't supposed to be able to see me – it's rare that they do. So I doubt the rest of your family will be able to see me."

"Well, that's alright. I usually eat alone in my room anyway. Our butler won't mind or ask any questions if I order some extra food. You can eat food, can't you?"

"Y-yeah." Okay, there was no wriggling out of this one. The girl was adamant on inviting him over. He sighed. "Fine, alright."

"Yay!" she cheered, grabbing his hand and leading him to her house at breakneck speed (for a human, anyway).

Within minutes, they were holed up in Rukia's large, plush, pastel, and frilly bunny-themed room with a dinner order on its way up.

"So what's a shinigami?" she asked again, sitting on her bed.

Ichigo was sitting backwards on the swivel desk chair, his arms crossed, resting his weight on the back. "A shinigami is…" He sighed. This girl would probably have a hard time understanding words. "You have any paper? I'll draw it out for you."

Rukia hopped down from her bed and dug up a sketchbook from a pile of various things. She turned it to a blank page somewhere in the middle of the book and handed it to him with a marker.

"Alright, first thing – when a human dies, it's soul comes out of the body." He drew a stick figure horizontal with X's for eyes and an attempted "ghost" stick figure above it, which was a head with a squiggly body.

"That looks like a sperm," Rukia said, pointing to Ichigo's "ghost."

Ichigo scowled and turned to another page. "_Anyway_, when the soul is out of the body, it is either sent to Soul Society by a shinigami," he drew a bodiless stick figure head and a stick figure with a sword next to it, and an area with a bunch of bodiless heads, labeled "Soul Society," "or it turns into a Hollow." He drew an angry stick figure with claws for hands and a fat body with a hole in the chest. "These Hollows eat the normal souls, called Pluses," he drew an arrow to the bodiless head, "and attack humans who have noticeable spirit power." He drew a normal stick figure with a squiggle around it (labeled "reiatsu") and an arrow from the Hollow to the human. He turned to a new page. "In order to protect the Pluses and the humans, we shinigami slay the Hollows." He drew a shinigami stick figure with its sword through the head of a Hollow stick figure. "It's actually just shattering the mask, which protects the Hollow's human emotions. Once the mask is shattered with the zanpakutou – the sword," he tapped the hilt of Zangetsu with the marker, "the soul resorts to being a Plus sent to Soul Society." He drew an arrow from the slain Hollow to a bodiless head, to the area of bodiless heads (again labeled "Soul Society"). "The zanpakutou absolves the soul of sins committed as a Hollow, but not the mortal sins committed as a human, so if the soul is too sinful to go to Soul Society, it goes to Hell." He drew a pit of fire with the word "HELL" in bold letters above it.

"That's a bad word!" Rukia gasped, glaring accusingly at him.

"What are you, five?!" Ichigo snapped.

"I'm _fourteen_, thankyouverymuch!" she snapped back, sticking her tongue out at him.

Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Hey – how old are you, anyway?"

"Older than you," he answered. He didn't really have an exact age – he knew he was under a hundred, but by how much, he wasn't sure.

"Let's say fifteen," she said happily.

"Why…"

"Your name! _Ichi_ and _go_ – one and five – fifteen!"

"Yeah, okay," he said. "So you got any questions? Or did I explain everything?"

"You didn't explain what a shinigami is! You just explained what a shinigami _does_."

He sighed and went back to the sketchpad, turning to another page. "Alright, when a Plus goes to Soul Society, it stays in a place called Rukongai." He drew a circle within a circle and labeled the outer ring "Rukongai" and the inner circle "Seireitei," and then drew what looked like a house on the line of the inner circle with an arrow pointing to it from the word "Shinigami Academy." "In order for the Plus to get from Rukongai to Seireitei, it has to go through the Shinigami Academy, where it learns how to be a shinigami. In Seireitei, there's the Gotei 13 – thirteen divisions, all with different functions."

"Like what?"

"Well, the fourth division is the medic division, and the twelfth is the scientific research."

"Which one are you in?"

"The eleventh."

"What does that one do?"

"It's a fighter-oriented division. Which means we focus on fighting and training and not much else."

"So…you're all brutes, right?"

"You could say that…"

"No wonder your drawings suck."

"And you can do better?"

Rukia took the sketchbook from him and grabbed a handful of colorful markers from her pile. "You can finish without pictures, right?" she said, starting to remaster Ichigo's stick figure explanation.

"I guess… So there's the Gotei 13, and the new shinigami get picked up by these divisions and get further training so they can come here to the human world and slay Hollows and send souls to Soul Society."

"Can any soul become a shinigami?"

"Not exactly – you've gotta have some spirit power in order to be accepted into the academy. Humans who can see souls have some spirit power. They've got more if they can see Hollows and shinigami."

"So…that means I've got spirit power, right?"

"Yeah, some."

"Whaddaya mean _some_?!"

"The Rukia _I_ knew was just an average shinigami – nothing special. As a human, she wouldn't've been able to see more than transparent souls."

"So? I'm not the Rukia _you_ knew, now am I?"

Ichigo sighed. "Look, just as souls go to Soul Society when they die, souls who die in Soul Society get recycled and reincarnated back into humans here."

She looked up. "Souls can die?"

"Well, not _die_. We can be killed, though. Not easily, but still."

"So…I could be the Rukia you knew…"

"Possibly. You look and act almost just like her. Well, you're a lot more girly, but it's close enough."

"Girls are _supposed_ to be girly, silly!"

Ichigo chuckled and watched her draw.

After a minute, Rukia spoke again, not looking up. "The Rukia you knew… Was she pretty?"

Ichigo shrugged. "I guess. She had a cute smile," he admitted.

"Were you friends with her?"

"Yeah."

"Good friends?"

"I guess so."

She finally looked up. "Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Well, you're not _ugly_," he said.

She threw the sketchbook at him. "Meanie!"

"You asked!"

"You're supposed to say 'Yes, you're very pretty'!"

"I ain't here to pad your ego, dammit!"

Rukia giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"Usually when I ask guys that, they say 'Yeah, you're really pretty,' or they say sexy or hot. You're the first guy to not say something like that."

"And that's funny?"

"I don't know why, but yeah," she said with a smile. "And my drawings are better than yours," she added, pointing to the sketchbook, which had landed open on a page of her remastering, covered in what looked like bunnies and bears all surrounded with lines of color.

"They still suck," he said.

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

(2248) (16131) 


	10. Nothing in Life is Normal

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warning**: Idiocy, Tattoos, Violence  
**Note**: Short chappy. I'm putting this up now because a flood of reviews will help me forget about The Day that Sucked (boys can be so stupid... --;)

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Nothing in Life is Normal

* * *

Rukia was an insomniac. 

A hyperactive, overly-curious insomniac.

And Ichigo had just enough decency to stick around and answer her questions – besides, he got dinner out of it.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to his left arm.

Ichigo turned it over, showing the eleventh's flower tattoo. "It's just a tattoo," he replied, not really wanting to get into the whole Limit thing.

"Why do you have a flower for a tattoo?"

"It's for my division – shows which one I'm in."

"What if you change divisions?"

"Then the tattoo changes."

"Oh. Do you have any others?"

"Yeah." Before she could ask, he pulled his top off of a shoulder, showing a crescent across his shoulder, the points facing towards his arm, where there were four rings, the top of which tapered into another crescent, the points separated towards his body, nearly meeting the points of the crescent over his shoulder, then falling diagonally outward, the lowest point meeting the highest point of the second ring, which fell diagonally inward, that low point meeting the high point of the third ring falling outward, the low meeting the high of the fourth and final inward-falling ring which also tapered to a crescent just above his elbow. The same design was mirrored on the other side as well. Just inside where his robes fell, there were two small crescent moons on either side, both facing outward. Centered between them but lower on his chest was a circle. Lower down, there was an interlocked tri-crescent symbol centered on his solar plexus.

"What's with all the crescents?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes and tugged his sleeve back up. "My zanpakutou is lunar-based. The tattoos appeared on their own like that because of that."

"Oh. What's on your hand?" She pointed to his right hand.

"This?" He held it up, showing the scar.

"Yeah – what'd you do? Slice your hand open trying to do some fancy trick?"

He laughed. "No – I did this a long time ago."

"How long?"

"Mmm…" He had to calculate that. "Twenty-two years? Almost twenty-three." Damn – saying that made him feel old.

"And it hasn't healed? What did you do?"

Oh, this was going to be fun… "Ever heard of a Blood Oath?"

"Isn't that something vampires do?"

"Erm…no, not this, anyway. It's an oath of brotherhood I took with my best friend. He's got the same scar on his hand, too."

"Why did you have to cut yourselves?"

"The purpose is to intermix the blood – his blood runs in my veins, and my blood in his. It's actually the only reason I have these tattoos – it's his bloodline that passed on the trait of tribal markings."

"What did you give him, then?"

"Huh?"

"If he gave you the tattoos, you must've given him something, too, right?"

"Doubt it – I've got nothing real special about me to pass on."

"So why did you do it? It's not very nice if you both don't give something to each other, right?"

Ichigo couldn't help but smile – the naïve thought process was actually rather cute. He went on to tell her about their circumstances and ended up retelling adventures he and Renji had partaken in during their time in Rukongai and in the Academy. She was thoroughly fascinated by the stories and they ended up talking until the wee hours of the morning when Rukia finally passed out on her bed. Ichigo covered her with her blanket and quietly left the house.

* * *

He swore the damn thing was broken. 

As soon as he left the house, his phone had gone off, beeping madly at him. When he checked, there were three Hollows well within his parameters.

_FUCK!_

Forcing down the urge to chuck the thing all twenty stories to the sleepy street below, he raced across the town, sword drawn.

An hour later, he was resting on a broad ledge of a tall skyscraper, letting himself become sleepy in the warm sun. Never before had the tracker failed to pick up on a Hollow's reiatsu – he was lucky they were only small fries. He could easily sense them on his own when he was searching, but his stay with Rukia had pretty much kept his guard down.

_Idiot – I knew I should've left as soon as I could._

There was really no reason for the tracker to malfunction on him, though.

With a few days of curious experimenting, Ichigo finally figured out that somehow, the Kuchiki household's security system, combined with Rukia's presence managed to scramble even the spiritual electronic device.

With that figured out, Rukia started finding him during the day, following him around like a puppy. It wasn't really all that annoying, and she managed to pretend her conversations with him were with a stuffed lion plush she took to carrying around. He was actually glad for the company.

Until just a month later, he regretted ever meeting her.

* * *

The tracker was acting odd. Well, more like the Hollow the tracker was picking up was acting odd. It was stationary. Even so, he had to follow it – an order was an order. 

However, when he got to the site, there was no Hollow to be found.

"What the hell…" he groaned. He searched around and picked up nothing until a subtle disturbance alerted his senses a split second before something whizzed past his face, slicing his cheek. Several feet away, a kunai thudded into the grass, a nearly invisible string attached to the end. He froze.

There was only one person he knew with this technique.

"Kitsure?" he questioned, his entire body tensed.

The string twanged taut momentarily before the kunai was yanked out of the ground and sent whizzing backwards, reversing the path it had taken moments before. Ichigo followed it to the gloved hand of a man he had once called a friend, perched lazily on top of a telephone pole. But he wasn't the one he was most surprised in seeing. As soon as he registered who Kitsure's companion was, everything screamed that something was wrong.

"R-Renji? What the hell?!" A fleeting moment of happiness was quickly suppressed by the urgent warning his brain was yelling at him – Renji hadn't said anything and wasn't even looking at him. Something was _definitely_ wrong. Horribly horribly wrong.

"You're aware," Kitsure drawled, "that fraternizing with humans is against the law, correct?"

Ichigo frowned. _Shit! I totally forgot about that…_ "Yeah, I'm aware, but I've got a reason!"

"It doesn't matter! Whenever a human sees you, you're supposed to use the Memory Modifier!"

"It's Rukia!"

A look of surprise flitted across Kit's face under his clear-blue glasses before he composed himself again. "Bullshit, Kurosaki! The chances—"

"Are nearly impossible – I know! But it's her, Goddammit!"

Kitsure growled, getting pissed. "That doesn't change the fact that you broke the law!"

"You would've done the same thing!"

"That doesn't matter! You're the one who screwed up, and now you _and_ the human have to pay!"

"Leave her out of this – she's only a kid! You can't honestly tell me you're going to kill her!"

"Those are our orders. Track you down, detain you, and eliminate the human – the memories are far too extensive to modify."

Ichigo gripped the hilt of his zanpakutou, glaring at Kitsure. "Sorry, I can't let you do that. I don't know who the fuck gave the order to have a _human_ _killed_ by _shinigami hands_, but it's not right! If you're lying to me, you'd better spill it right now, otherwise I'll fight both of you!"

"He's not lying, Ichigo," Renji said calmly. "The orders came from Center 46."

Ichigo looked at him, surprised. "Center 46…authorized this?!"

"It's just one human being, Ichigo. Please, just cooperate, okay?"

The orange-haired shinigami's face hardened again. "I thought Rukia was like a sister to you, Renji. How can you calmly accept her death? _Again_?!"

"Because I'm trying to save _your_ stupid ass! It's not _Rukia_ anymore—"

"_You_ haven't been around her! It's her! Her reincarnation, yeah, but still her! And as annoying and stupid as she was, and as much as I wanted to kick her ass, she was—she still _is_ our comrade, and I'm not a traitor! Unlike the fucking asshole you're standing next to!"

"He's following orders, Ichigo! We can't just disobey them!"

Ichigo glared coldly at him as he slowly unsheathed his sword then pointed it at him. He had to force himself to keep from trembling. "First year, who joined me in my recklessness instead of forcing me to run away? Third year, who came up with the idea to sneak out past curfew to a bonfire party we weren't invited to? 'Can't just disobey orders'? The Abarai Renji from the 78th Rukongai district wouldn't be caught _dead_ saying shit like that!"

"Enough of your shit!" Kitsure yelled, getting ready to attack again.

"Don't!" Renji snapped, catching Kitsure's wrist, stopping him.

"Abarai, if you do not let go of me right this second, I _will_ arrest you for attempting to assist a criminal," he stated coldly.

When Renji only tightened his grip in response, Kitsure's free hand flashed quickly, driving another kunai into the redhead's gut.

"Ren—!" Before Ichigo could even move, the black-haired boy had freed himself (not without difficulty) from Renji's grasp and let fly his initial attack, sending two more kunai to Ichigo's torso, landing them with precision into his hakusui and saketsu with such force, they drove straight through with a sickening sound. Just as quickly, the weapons were pulled back out through the wounds before Ichigo fell in a pool of blood.

Kitsure didn't even stop to admire his handiwork before he had Renji bound with kidou, and within the moment, they were both gone.

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

For those of you who _don't_ watch Naruto and/or don't know about weapons... 

This is a kunai: http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/2719/robinskunaiof2.jpg

* * *

(1629) (17760) 


	11. Of Love and Fruit

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warning**: Language, Violence, Angst (ohnoes :P)  
**Note**: About Ichigo's tattoos - I have...OMFG shitty pics of the shitty sketches. My scanner is being a bitch so I had to use my camera phone. Anywho, (love to ImageShack) http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/408/ichitatshy7.jpg – copy and paste that into your browser. It's the front, back, and side views, as well as the tri-cescent symbol that's only sketched onto his stomach (it's supposed to look like the picture does, though - just an outline). The markings on his arms are solid black, though (like the side view shows). AND I just realized I described the arm markings backwards XD (wow - score one for the dumbass XD) so I've gone back and fixed that, as well as a small tweak in the (technically second-to-)last paragraph for clarity. ALSO - I put up a link in the last chapter to a picture of a kunai (for those who don't know).

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Of Love and Fruit

* * *

Renji stared out the window at the night sky. Life had hit its official low, and all he could feel was numb. Completely and utterly numb. Everything shattered when Kitsure's kunai hit their targets. His right hand had seared with a white-hot pain, and his heart had literally felt like it had broken. His hand and chest were still throbbing with a pain on an entirely different level from the dull pain in his stomach from Kitsure's kunai. 

The scar was gone.

He found himself frighteningly close to tears every time he saw – or rather, _didn't_ see it. He had no idea why the bond would be broken. The self-loathing knot in his stomach told him it was his fault because he was the one willing to go completely against their basic principles just to save his lover. Although the timing didn't make sense, it was the only explanation he had. He supposed that the scar wouldn't disappear until the consequences of breaking the bond were carried out. But if that were true…

Then it was Ichigo's fault.

True, they'd both been stabbed in the stomach – a form of symbolic seppuku, he supposed – but Ichigo was the one who died. The pain didn't start until the kunai had landed. And besides that, their promise only included each other – Renji's will to sacrifice Rukia's reincarnation for Ichigo's life shouldn't have had any affect on the Blood Oath.

But what did Ichigo do?

Renji thought back, recalling the conversation. The first defense Ichigo came up with was saying that he hadn't used the Memory Modifier on the human because that human happened to be Rukia. But even if it _was_ Rukia's reincarnation, there wouldn't have been any harm with using the modifier on her at their first encounter. Why hadn't he done that? And why even mention her in the first place? No matter who the human was, it was still illegal not to use the modifier on them if they saw a Hollow or a shinigami. And no matter who the human was, Ichigo would still want to protect them, especially if he'd been seeing them for a month. That was just the kind of guy he was. So why personalize it? Why mention her?

…A guilty conscience?

Renji's heart throbbed painfully at the thought. _Why…? Why would you do this?_ He tore his eyes away from the barred window and buried his face in his hands. A small part of him was glad he was in a jail cell – he wouldn't be able to touch the bed they'd shared for the past sixteen years with that thought torturing him.

* * *

Everything…fucking…HURT. 

Ichigo didn't want to open his eyes.

_I should be dead. I should be dead. GODDAMMIT!_

His body twitched reflexively and he winced. Some vague sense of recognition told him that he was in a gigai. He hadn't ever had to use one before, but when they were students, they had learned how to sync themselves enough to enter, and how to disengage the synchronization to exit. His common sense tried to kick in and told him to question how the hell he could get into (or be put into) a gigai without being conscious, but he was in too much pain to care.

"Tenchou, he's awake," a deep, steady voice said.

Ichigo didn't recognize it. _Tenchou? Where… Where the hell am I?_

"Ichigo!"

He recognized that one! Slowly, he cracked an eye open to see Rukia hunched over him, concern and worry blatantly evident on her face. As his vision focused, her face lit up and she turned behind her, calling. "He's awake!"

"I heard, I heard," another man drawled. Not without some amusement, Ichigo detected a hint of annoyance in the man's voice.

He opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, but found his throat and mouth dry, his voice gone.

Rukia caught the movement, her bright face etched with concern once more. "You're okay, Ichigo. Don't try to move," she said, gently brushing his bangs from his forehead before placing her cool hand against it. He was somewhat grateful for the gesture (though he'd never ever admit to it).

"Tessai, help him sit up," the second man said.

Rukia took her hand away and moved back as the first man's strong hands gently pushed Ichigo upright from the back. Now a little more awake, Ichigo looked over at the man he supposed was who Tessai had called tenchou. He was a thin, wiry man with blond hair tucked under a green-and-white striped hat that shadowed his eyes.

"Can you move your arms, at least?"

Testing, Ichigo flexed his fingers before he lifted his hand and took the cup of water from the man, gratefully downing it in one go. "Arigatou," he said, finally able to speak.

"You have Kuchiki-san to thank," the man said, taking the empty cup back. "Urahara Kisuke, by the way."

"Kurosaki Ichigo," he replied reflexively.

"So I've heard," Urahara replied wryly. "Get into a bit of a scuffle, did we?"

"Bit more than a scuffle. How the hell did you find me?"

"Kuchiki-san found you and called me. You're very lucky to have her for a friend – you could've easily died from those wounds."

Ichigo grimaced, reminded of his current predicament. "I'd rather be dead…"

"Aw, don't be so down – technically, you're already dead," he said happily.

The boy eyed him, not appreciating the joke. "I'm taking the liberty of assuming Rukia's told you what I am – or was, actually."

"No need – I'm already quite aware that you are a Shinigami."

"I _was_ a Shinigami – my spiritual power has been destroyed. I'm a normal, powerless Plus now."

"Not quite. Kuchiki-san did happen to tell me the origin of the old scar on your hand, and if you'll notice, that scar is no longer there."

Ichigo frowned and looked at his right hand. Indeed, the scar was gone without a trace, and the absence of that alone made him cold all over. Once he found his voice again, he asked, "What does the Blood Oath have to do with this?"

"The Blood Oath has _everything_ to do with this. You and your blood brother had an immensely strong bond – one with enough power to protect and bury the bulk of your reiatsu in the depths of your soul just before your hakusui and saketsu were destroyed."

"It…protected me?"

"Technically, yes, your bond saved you. Essentially, your blood brother saved you. His scar is most likely gone as well."

Ichigo took a second to process this before his eyes went wide. "Shit!"

"Something wrong?"

"Yes, something's wrong!" he snapped out of frustration, wincing as the exertion sent a wave of nauseating pain radiating from his injuries. "The scar wasn't supposed to ever go away unless the bond was _broken_! If his scar's gone… Shit!!" He buried his head in his hands, ready to scream and cry in helpless frustration. Quite frankly, the only things keeping him from doing just that were the company and the pain. _If Renji's scar is gone… Death doesn't break the bond and he knows that! If his scar is gone, he probably thinks one of us did something wrong to break it… Fuck – and I just had to mention Rukia, didn't I? Stupid stupid stupid!! Holy fuck… I don't blame him if he accuses me of breaking it – damn me and my big mouth!_

"You mean neither of you realized it could be sacrificed?"

Ichigo chuckled grimly. "I don't think either of us realized it was something more than just a symbol…"

"Well, it _is_ quite rare that a blood bond is strong enough to offer that much protection…" When Ichigo didn't respond, he continued. "I suppose you'd like to see him again and explain, correct?"

Ichigo nodded. "There's no chance of doing that anytime soon, though. Even if I still have my power, it'll take at least a decade to become a Shinigami again."

"That is where you are wrong," Urahara said plainly. "There is a way for you to restore your powers once more in three to four days at the most."

Ichigo looked at him, skeptical. "How?"

"Nevermind that now, boy. First we need to get those wounds of yours healed before you can even think about doing anything." Urahara was suddenly all business.

"It'll take _weeks_ at least for these to heal in my state," Ichigo pointed out, "and that's if I'm lucky."

"Luckily for you, then, I have something that should heal you in the matter of half a day," he countered, getting up.

"Half a day?"

Urahara silently walked out, coming back a moment later with a pill bottle marked with a skull and crossbones. "Take one every hour and you should be healed completely by tonight," he instructed, handing it to him.

"Is this supposed to be funny?" Ichigo asked, indicating the label.

"Kuchiki-san, please take care of him while we mind the store," Urahara said, completely ignoring his question.

"Hai, Kisuke-kun!" she said happily, bowing her head.

When Urahara and Tessai left, Ichigo spoke. "What time is it?"

"Nine forty-five," she answered, looking at her watch.

He nodded and took one of the pills, swallowing it dry. "Blech… Disgusting."

"Medicine wouldn't be medicine if it tasted yummy," Rukia said. "That's what nii-san always tells me."

"So how do you know this guy?"

"Kisuke-kun? He and Tessai-san saved me from a car wreck when I was five. I've been coming by here ever since."

"Is that why you called him?"

"Well, I couldn't call for an ambulance – they'd get mad at me again for wasting their time…"

"Again? You've called one for a soul?"

"She was covered in blood and wasn't moving – what was I supposed to think?"

"You can't tell the difference?"

"Well, now I can – but that was when I was like seven."

He chuckled. "You're a weird kid…"

"You're the one cussing over a missing scar," she retorted.

"You'd cuss over it, too, if you knew what kind of situation this creates for me."

"What kind of situation?"

He sighed. "Last night, I was tracking a Hollow, which turned out to just be a lure from Kitsure and Renji—"

"Your friends from Rukongai, right?" Rukia had a mind like a steel trap – that is, if she was paying attention.

"Yeah. They were trying to find me so they could arrest me—"

"Why would your friends want to arrest you?"

"Because I broke the law. When a human being witnesses a Hollow or a Shinigami, no matter what the situation, the Shinigami is required to use a Memory Modifier, which places a random, false memory in the human's head so they forget about the incident. When I first met you, I should've just shut up and used the modifier, but you kind of surprised me, looking like the Rukia I used to know and all. I just completely forgot. And after I spent all that time talking to you that night, it was already too late to do anything about it. The memories were too extensive." He sighed, still bothered by the situation.

"I'm not surprised that I was supposed to be arrested – I would've spent some time in jail and then probably made to help out with the Fourth Division's community service shit and on probation. It wouldn't have been a big deal, and I wouldn't have fought it if the scene didn't feel so damn _off_. But they not only wanted to arrest me, but they were ordered to kill _you_. You know too much, I guess. I don't know – I thought Kitsure was just fucking with my head when he told me, but Renji said that the order had come directly from Center 46." He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "It doesn't make any sense…"

"Maybe if you think out loud, you can figure it out," Rukia suggested. Ichigo's agitation and distress was radiating off of him and it was making her uneasy.

Ichigo nodded slightly, not looking at her. "Kitsure's in the Special Ops – if it was purely an arrest, it would've been really odd for him to be there. They get the little grunts to do things like that. But since it involved killing a human, I guess it's not _completely_ strange, though I'd think they'd get a seated officer at the very least to lead the assignment. Of course, Kit could be a seated officer by now – it's not like I keep tabs on him. But that still doesn't explain why Renji was there. The Eleventh doesn't deal with arrests, and the only seek-and-destroy missions we'd ever get would be dealing with high-level, rogue shinigami, and normally, only the captain and vice captain and _maybe_ the third and fourth seats would be allowed to participate. Renji's the seventh seat, and we're not so under-staffed as to have an Eleventh Division officer assist in an arrest and killing a human. The Special Ops is more than capable of carrying that out on their own."

"Maybe…it wasn't just an arrest," Rukia suggested.

Ichigo looked at her, a little surprised. "Huh?"

"Maybe they were ordered to destroy you, too, and they just didn't want to tell you."

He shook his head. "It still doesn't make any sense. I mean, I'd understand not telling me – they both know I'd fight them all out if that was the case. I've got no desire to die anytime soon – especially not by Kit's hands. But like I said, only the first four seats would have a chance to lead a seek-and-destroy mission."

"Maybe there was somebody else and you didn't see them."

"Not likely – even if they dragged lower-ranking officers along for training or whatever, the highest ranking officer would be the one to address me…" He frowned, thinking for a moment. "Unless Kitsure got promoted and I didn't get the memo," he said. It was the only thing that made any sense. "If he's a third or fourth seat, there's a possibility that he requested for Renji to join him on the grounds that they could possibly get me to comply with them, but the brat's trigger-happy and he's hated both of us since the Academy. He knew I wasn't going to come without a fight and so probably requested permission to kill me if I resisted arrest – how the hell he pulled that, I don't know, but they also ordered for a human to be killed. I guess it's relatively believable. He also probably banked on Renji doing anything to keep him from attacking me. He got two birds with one stone – killing me in front of Renji, and accusing Renji of attempting to help a fugitive. And depending on how Kit worded it, Renji could land in jail and…possibly sentenced to death—shit!" Ichigo growled and buried his face in his hands. Besides the nagging feeling that something wasn't right, he was stuck here until he could regain his powers and relocate his Hell Butterfly while Renji was probably rotting away in a jail cell, forced to wait a full thirty days before being executed.

"You still haven't told me why you're cussing over a missing scar…"

He sighed. "When Kitsure read what I was charged with, I kinda panicked. I think he had a crush on the Rukia we knew, so I guess I was hoping that if I mentioned you, he'd screw up or something. I don't know. I honestly can't tell you what was going on through my mind at the time. But the biggest problem with that is that there wasn't any real reason for me to mention you. If the scar hadn't disappeared, it wouldn't be a problem, but those two put together, I can only believe that the only explanation Renji would come to is that I cheated on him…"

"Cheated…?" she echoed. "You mean your _brother_ is your _boyfriend_?"

"Don't say it like that! We're not _related_, for God's sakes…"

"But…still…"

"We were only brothers through the bond – through the Blood Oath. We loved each other probably ever since we first met…"

Suddenly, Rukia started giggling.

Ichigo glared at her. "What's so funny?"

"_Ichigo_ is a fruit," she said, still laughing.

"Oh shut up…"

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

Yay, second play on Ichigo's name :D

* * *

(2733) (20518) 


	12. How Far Will You Go?

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else  
**Warning**: Drama, Insanity, Crack...  
**Note**: Mostly taken from the manga - volume 7, I think? You guys know - it'll be familiar. But of course, my own twists are in it (I absolutely love writing Urahara XD)

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
How Far Will You Go?

* * *

"Renji, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this…" 

"Like what? Death doesn't break the bond, Kira, only betrayal does."

Kira sighed. "Do you _honestly_ believe Ichigo would have betrayed you? Forget the scar – what do you believe, deep down, in your heart?"

"I don't know what to believe."

"Fine. What do you _want_ to believe?"

"I _want_ to believe that Kitsure wasn't such a fucking asshole."

The blond backhanded him gently but firmly. "Forget Kitsure!"

Renji glared slightly. "I want to believe Ichigo isn't a traitor – that he wouldn't cheat on me. But why would he mention her?"

"He was probably panicking – you of all people should know how screwed up his logic gets when he's like that."

This brought a smirk to the redhead's features. "But still… Why else would the scar disappear?"

"I can't even begin to guess, Renji. I'm sorry."

He sighed and turned over on the uncomfortable bed, hugging the pillow under his head. "I guess it doesn't matter… Thanks to Kitsure, I'm probably going to die anyway."

"Renji… There might be a chance that Ichigo is still alive."

"Even if he _is_ alive, he's powerless. If he gets back into Soul Society, he'll be stuck in Rukongai. That's what he didn't want. He would've rather died than go back there…"

"He also probably would've died before cheating on you."

He closed his eyes. "I know…" he sighed. "I miss him…"

"I know."

"Do you think he's alive?"

"Renji… Ichigo is probably the toughest and luckiest boy I know. If there was any chance at all of surviving Kitsure's attack, Ichigo would have gotten it. I'm sure he's alive, and I'm sure he'll do everything and anything he can to see you again and explain everything."

Renji smiled. "Yeah."

Kira smiled back. "Don't let go, okay? You both are still the only constants in this world – I'd hate to see that change."

"Arigatou, Kira…"

* * *

Kira wandered away from the prison deep in his own thoughts. He had found out about their relationship a year before graduation and was somehow surprised and yet not surprised. He was more surprised that they trusted him enough to willingly come out to him more than anything. The fact that they were together (it felt childish to call them "boyfriends") wasn't a major leap in judgment and was actually quite plausible when he thought about it. It had been out of pure respect that he had accredited their deep understanding and awareness of each other to the blood bond – if it wasn't for that, people would have outed them years ago. They had been lucky in that respect. 

When he had heard about Renji's arrest, he had visited him as soon as he could, only to find the redhead in an angry, pained state. It had taken nearly an hour to get him to calm down enough to talk. The situation was admittedly distressing, especially for Renji. The one person that that man had trusted so deeply with his life and his heart may have possibly been the cause of his Blood Oath scar disappearing. It had frightened the blond that Renji would accuse him so easily, but thinking about it, Renji's logic had been sound. Nothing but betrayal could break the bond – at least, that's what they thought. There had to be something else, something rare that caused the scar to disappear – that didn't necessarily mean that the bond between them was broken.

Indeed, Kira believed that nothing could come in between them – not distance, not other people, not society. Their bond wasn't just the scar – it was a lot deeper. But Renji was a simple kid at heart. The scar symbolized everything when Ichigo was away. Now Ichigo was gone and the scar was, too. Renji had nothing tangible and it frightened him. They both had needed something tangible – they couldn't trust themselves and their emotions and their minds, simply because those things could lie or be persuaded, or they could deny them outright. The scar didn't lie. The scar couldn't be persuaded. The scar couldn't be denied. It was their anchor – their solid, unchanging anchor.

Kira sighed. _Please come back soon, Ichigo… You're the only one who can save him from himself._

* * *

"How are your wounds?" Urahara asked. It was rather late at night and Rukia had already gone home, leaving Ichigo alone in the back room of the store. 

"Healed for the most part," Ichigo replied. He had taken the liberty of ridding his torso of the constricting bandages, leaving his freshly healed scars out in the open. They were still pink and raw and sensitive to touch, but they weren't bleeding anymore. "I gotta ask, though – why're you helping me?"

"Hmmmm? Well, because Kuchiki-san asked me to!" he replied in his overly cheery voice.

"So you just do anything a fourteen-year-old insomniac on a sugar-high asks you to? You're a business man – there's no way you're helping me for free."

"Weren't you ever told not to look a gift horse in the mouth?"

"I'm not stupid, Urahara. What're you gonna make me do for you?" Ichigo had no choice but to be skeptical. He'd grown up in the roughest part of Rukongai, after all. There was no such thing as "gift horses." Besides that, as badly as he wanted to get back to Renji, he couldn't afford to be reckless. He didn't want to screw this up.

Urahara grinned, hiding it behind his fan. "Ah, don't be so cruel, Kurosaki-san!"

"Spill it, old man!" he snapped. "Whatever you want me to do, you're gonna wanna get me to do it now, before I become a Shinigami again. 'Cause when I do, I'm gonna go back as soon as possible."

He smirked, snapping his fan closed. "Your honestly borders on stupidity, Kurosaki-san," he replied, kneeling down to the boy's level. "I wonder… What would you be willing to do to get back to your blood brother? How far would you go?"

Glaring at him and becoming uneasy, Ichigo replied, "I'd do anything that wouldn't compromise our bond." He chose his words carefully, his gut telling him to keep his guard up. Urahara's green eyes glinted with hints of a sick playfulness that Ichigo had no desire to find the source of.

"You do realize," Urahara said slowly, "that nothing you could do would compromise your bond as long as you're doing it for him, yes?"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "You say that like I could be a whore and keep our bond as long as I was making the money for him. I'll tell you right now that even if that was true, I wouldn't do it. It may not compromise the blood bond, but it screws with our second bond – the only one that really matters right now because as long as the scar is gone, it's just like the bond it symbolized isn't there."

Urahara closed his eyes with a soft chuckle and stood up. "You really do love him."

He relaxed a bit, the uneasiness lifting. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your bond is fascinating, Kurosaki-san. It's even more fascinating that you understand it – both of them, actually. If you had agreed with me, I would have been forced to not help you. As it stands, however, the only payment I ask for is that you do not fail. If not for yourself and your blood brother, then for Kuchiki-san. If you fail, I fear she may become as cynical as I in these matters," he added with a laugh in his voice.

Ichigo's expression shifted from indignation to determination. "Don't worry about that – I've been called stubborn more than a few times. And not for nothing."

"Then are you ready to start your training?"

"I'm ready when you are."

* * *

"Okay, you are officially insane," Ichigo said. 

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Urahara practically sang. They, along with Tessai, were in a vast underground cavern, lit up as bright as day from some unknown source. The ceiling was painted to look like the sky, and there were dead, withered plants dotting the rocky and otherwise barren desert landscape.

"It might just be…" he muttered under his breath. "Whatever – let's just get this started," he added a little louder.

"Ahah – don't be so hasty, Kurosaki-san! Don't you want to appreciate the beauty of all my hard work?"

"No," he snapped.

"Your loss," Urahara retorted.

Before Ichigo could question him, the end of Urahara's cane connected with the boy's head, hesitating momentarily before it went through, knocking Ichigo out of the gigai. Grimacing a bit from the rude intrusion, Ichigo got to his hands and knees. Suddenly, his anger gave way completely to utter confusion – there was a Chain of Fate connecting him to the faux body! Just as suddenly, he remembered that he never did get to ask how Urahara had managed to sync him with the body on his own. "W-what the…"

Urahara chuckled. "Wondering just how I managed to get you in a gigai when you were unconscious?"

"That's…one of many questions…" Ichigo replied, sitting down, staring at the chain.

"The gigai that you would've used in the Academy is a Soul Society issue – it's specifically designed to not allow a soul in unless the soul initiates the correct procedure in order to enter. This one, however, is designed to take in whatever soul is placed into it and immediately _connect_ the soul to the body, as opposed to merely synchronizing. The process is supposed to take weeks, even months, for a full connection, but the medicine I gave you not only sped up the healing process, but the connection process as well."

Ichigo finally looked up at him. "What's the point?"

"You would have probably turned into a Hollow if I allowed you to stay in your soul form without your Shinigami powers. The real world is a dangerous place for a wayward soul, you know."

"So…you've…almost _literally_ brought me back from the dead."

"This is your first time being alive and outside of your body, correct?" he asked, completely ignoring him again.

"Unless something freaky happened when I was a kid, yeah."

"Can you move?"

"Not very well," he said, getting to his feet, a little unsteady.

"The first step, then, is for you to re-learn how to move efficiently as a soul."

"How? Jumping jacks? A jog around the rocks?"

"Of course not. How about we just get started instead of talking?" he said with a grin before calling, "Hey, Ururu! Get ready!"

Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see a skinny, almost sickly-looking, sleepy-eyed girl with her black hair in droopy pigtails. "Pleased to meet you," she said with a slight curtsy, her voice just as timid as she looked. In her skirt, she held what looked like toys or junk.

"Uhm… Hello…?" Ichigo replied, a little confused.

"You're first lesson: try fighting with her!" Urahara said.

"What?!" Ichigo looked at him like he was nuts – fight with this kid?! Even without his Shinigami powers, his normal fighting abilities weren't something to be taken lightly!

"The rules are simple," he continued, ignoring Ichigo's outburst. "Once one or the other can no longer move, the lesson ends. So just be sure to knock her out before she knocks you out!"

Ichigo glared at him. "Are you insane?! I can't punch a little kid!"

"Very true – that task should be rather difficult, considering the state you're in."

The boy growled. "I meant—"

His words cut off as he heard the girl drop the things she was holding. When he looked at her, she was fixing the helmet on her head. "Please make sure you put those on first…or you _will_ die."

Before he could even respond, she rushed at him and was in his face. There was barely enough time to react before the attack landed with an explosion.

"Told you so," Urahara said from behind his fan.

As the dust started to clear, Ururu was standing quite calmly, though Ichigo was nowhere to be seen.

"He isn't getting up…" the short redheaded boy said, appearing beside Tessai.

"I wonder if he's dead?" Tessai added.

"Good question…" Urahara agreed.

Suddenly, Ichigo tumbled out of the dust, away from his opponent. He scrambled to his feet and ran towards Ururu, passed her, and grabbed the other equipment from the pile she had dropped. _Shit shit SHIT! What the fuck was that?! I'm DEAD if that lands on me! It's probably useless, but if I can just put this on…_ "How the hell do I put this on?!"

"Kurosaki-san!" Urahara called. "Like this! Place it on your forehead like so," he said, demonstrating, "and yell at the top of your lungs 'take this! The powers of justice! Justice armor! Justice hachimaki! Attack!'"

"Okay, okay! So I just…" he stopped, realizing the stupidity of the directions and chucked the headband at the ground. "Like hell I'm gonna do that, freak!" he snapped before he had to dodge another of Ururu's attacks. He snatched the headband again and started running once more.

"Now isn't the time to be embarrassed, Kurosaki-san! Aren't you willing to do anything to get back to your lover-boy?"

Ichigo felt his ears burn. "Fuck off!" he snapped. _Dammit! Guess I don't have a choice…_ Reluctantly, he placed the headband against his forehead and angrily yelled, "Take this! The powers of justice! Justice armor! Justice hachimaki! Attack!"

"Wow, you actually did it…"

He realized that the words hadn't done anything – Urahara was just fucking with him! "You fucking asshole!"

Urahara laughed. "Put it on your head and push the ends of the top-most tubes together," he said, being sincere this time.

Ichigo followed the directions and was able to get the headband and the gloves on. "All right!" he called, turning to face Ururu. "Come at me if you can!"

The girl certainly could. And did. Making Ichigo scramble out of the way as her punch sent another explosion of rocks and dirt up in the air. He started running again as she gave chase once more.

"_If_ you can?" Urahara questioned, making fun of Ichigo's single burst of idiotic confidence.

"Shut the fuck up! That was instinctive!" he snapped. "And _headgear_ isn't really enough to guard against these attacks!" he added. _If I don't keep running and dodging these attacks, just one hit and it'll be over… Wait a sec! If I can run and dodge…then I can match her speed, right?! So then maybe…maybe I can dodge them directly! If I can do that…_

He skidded to a halt and turned to face her. At her punch, he was able to move his head just out of the way. _Alright! I can do this!_ He nearly grinned as he finally was able to retaliate, though she was able to dodge his punch as well. It didn't matter – he was able to take the offensive for once. _Okay, okay! I just can't hit her in the face – that's it. I just have to tap her headgear and the weight difference will do the rest. I can do this!_ He threw another punch, only she didn't move far enough out of the way and he nicked her cheek. _Shit – didn't mean to do that!_

Ururu froze, seemingly in shock. Then suddenly, she was standing on his outstretched arm on one foot, the other raised and swiftly coming down to kick him in the head. It landed, sending him flying across the ground and into a large boulder, sending up a cloud of smoke and dust on impact.

"Safe!" Urahara called happily, one hand around Ururu's ankle – he had kept her from following through.

Ichigo groaned as the dust cleared. He could feel the blood on his face collecting the dirt and dust. He was alive! But how? His senses woke up and realized that he wasn't backed up against rock – Tessai had come between them, cushioning the impact for Ichigo to keep him from becoming little more than a blood splatter. "Dammit," he growled, getting to his feet with Tessai's help. "Dammit – one more time! I'll win, I—"

"No," Urahara said firmly. "I congratulate you. Lesson one: cleared!" he added happily, grinning at him.

"Huh? But I lost!"

"I only said 'knock her out before she knocks you out,' I didn't say 'knock her out to clear the lesson,' right? Not to mention," he continued, placing a hand on Ururu's now-bare head, "this child's fighting skills are good enough to take on a Shinigami. No matter how much a mere Plus struggles against her, there's no way you can win!" He laughed. "Do you still have difficulty moving?" he asked, getting back to the real topic.

"Eh? No, not at all…" he replied.

"Since when?"

"Since…a while ago, I guess."

"Of course." He grinned. "This lesson is a one-shot victory! It was a test to see if you could dodge the first attack or not. You should know this, Kurosaki-san – spiritual powers are easiest and highest raised when the soul is in danger of being destroyed. If you were able to raise your spiritual powers, then you would be able to dodge the punches. So everything worked out perfectly!"

"And…if I wasn't able to raise it?"

"You would've gotten hit and died," he said plainly.

"Bastard…" Ichigo growled.

"Now now – everything worked out perfectly! You were able to recover your spiritual powers after all! So, what do you think? To celebrate your passing of the first lesson let's…"

"Go get food?" Ichigo supplied, hopeful. All that running around wore him out!

His hope was shattered as Tessai swung down an axe, breaking the chain connecting him to the gigai.

His eyes went wide, thoroughly confused and rather scared.

"Let's continue on to Lesson Two!" Urahara exclaimed.

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

Vocabulary... 

Hachimaki: headband

* * *

(3002) (23516) 


	13. To Hell and Back Again

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else  
**Warning**: Insanity.  
**Note**: Can you say "fanart-inspired plot twist"? XD And again, taken from the manga :3 Hope you guys like this twist.

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
To Hell and Back Again

* * *

"W-wait—How…?!" Ichigo had no idea how to phrase his confusion. Yeah, he had to technically be dead to become a Shinigami again, but this was just too sudden. 

"You are aware of what happens what that chain is severed, yes?"

"Of course I'm aware! When the chain's broken, it starts to corrode. Once it disappears, the soul becomes a Hollow – you retard! How is this going to help me?!"

"Well, you have to be a soul in order to become a Shinigami."

"I know that!! But if your crazy idea of making me into a Shinigami in three days doesn't work, I'm screwed!"

"Exactly. So you _have_ to become a Shinigami in order to avoid death – or 'being screwed,' as you so eloquently put it."

Ichigo glared at him for condescending his wording – he was a Rukongai kid, not a poet! "And just how do you plan on making me into a Shinigami?"

"That is where Lesson Two begins – Shattered Shaft! GO!" he exclaimed, pointing dramatically to a rock formation in the distance.

Before Ichigo could say anything, the ground disappeared from beneath him and Tessai, plunging them into a deep, dark hole.

Urahara chuckled. "Were you surprised by my great feint…?" he asked. When he realized that the two were still falling down the shaft, he looked over the edge. "It is pretty deep, isn't it?"

"I put in a lot of effort!" Ururu said proudly.

* * *

Ichigo groaned in pain from the landing. "Holy shit…" He tried moving until he realized his arms were locked behind his back, unmoving. "Huh…? Bakudou…?" he murmured, looking over his shoulder. His arms were bound and marked with two X's, as if having wrapped them in thick black cord. 

"Bakudou 99! 'Kin,'" Tessai explained, his hands together in a form Ichigo recognized as keeping the bakudou engaged continuously. "It's quite selfish of me, but until this lesson ends, I have to put your arms under restraint."

"There we go!" Urahara's voice called from up above. Ichigo shifted his focus up to the small figure looking over the edge of the shaft. "Just climb up here while restrained like that! That's Lesson Two – The Shattered Shaft!"

"Wh-what?!" He struggled upright and to his feet. He had learned before how to seemingly defy gravity, but it had come instinctively as a student Shinigami – he didn't know exactly how it worked. "Ah shit…" he groaned. "This is gonna be damn near impossible, asshole!"

"Last time I checked, 'damn near' impossible still isn't completely impossible. Find that difference, because you aren't in any position to debate incalculable probability. Look – the corrosion's already begun."

Becoming colder by the second, he looked down and what he saw froze him completely – the end few chain links had taken on a life of their own and were hungrily biting and eating each other with their numerous mouths like starving piranhas in a small pond. He nearly screamed. The sight was relatively horrific and disgusting, not to mention the nauseating pain starting to poison his senses.

"The chain has started to devour itself from the bottom up – the phase known as 'attrition.'"

Ichigo fell to his knees, forcing his breathing steady. "Attrition…? The final stage shouldn't begin for months!"

"Very true. But I have filled the bottom of the shaft with a special gas that catalyzes the process. If attrition begins in such an environment, the estimated time of completion is seventy-two hours, if you're lucky – that's three days."

The boy grimaced – so this was where the three-day Shinigami transformation came from.

"When it's completed, you will turn into a Hollow. The only way to avoid that is to become a Shinigami before then, otherwise we will be forced to destroy you."

"What is with you and these 'failure equals death' lessons?!" he snapped.

"That _is_ what you'd rather be if you fail, is it not? If you give up, I will have no choice but to initiate your only other option."

* * *

Renji stared up at the bare, boring ceiling in his jail cell, wishing he could just die already. 

"Oi, Abarai," a familiar voice called.

The redhead sat up, seeing Shuuhei standing outside his cell. "Huh?" he responded dumbly.

"Man, you're really out of it, aren't you?"

"I've stopped caring, is all…" he said, looking away.

Shuuhei sighed. "You've heard your sentence, then."

"It's no surprise. Kit's hated me for a while. Hated both of us."

"We're trying to get it repealed, but you really got yourself in a shit-hole."

"I know. I was just…" He sighed. "I don't know. What happened was bound to happen – I should've just kept my hands off. At least I'd be free."

"You'd hate yourself and you know it."

"I hate myself anyway."

"Why?"

"The Blood Oath – my scar's gone and I just automatically assumed it was Ichigo's fault. Kira had to be the one to believe in Ichigo for me. I hate myself for even thinking about jumping to that conclusion…"

"Renji, you're from the harsher side of Rukongai. Complex thinking isn't your forte – things are or they aren't. Nobody blames you for making that conclusion – Ichigo probably doesn't even blame you. I seriously can't see him getting mad at you for that."

Renji gave a weak chuckle and flopped ungracefully onto his back on his bed. "I really…don't deserve him…" he said softly. "I should know him better than anybody, yet I'm the first one to accuse him of infidelity. Everybody else has to convince me otherwise."

"You're just scared. You only had to be told once to be convinced otherwise. You know it's not his fault, nor is it your fault. If I had to make any guess, I'd say Ichigo is still alive, fighting like hell to get back to you."

"I know," he replied softly. "It still feels like the scar's still there. It still acts the way it did when it was there."

Shuuhei smiled. "Everything will turn out okay – you two have a habit of making that happen."

* * *

_That's the fifth one…_ Ichigo glared at the disappearing chain as the hungry mouths faded once more. Between each stage of attrition, the cannibalistic links fell into slumber. When they were awake and feeding, the nauseating pain kept him grounded, so whatever he tried, he had to do it during their nap. 

He got to his feet, forcing himself into recovery, and rushed at the wall of the shaft, hoping that his reckless, aimless vertical dash would shock his body into remembering how to do it right.

"Is he crazy?" Jinta asked as Ichigo fell to the ground once again. He, Urahara, and Ururu were watching him from the edge. "He can barely make it three meters up."

"Aa – this is true," Urahara agreed.

"What a dumbass…" Ururu said.

"Oi!" Jinta called. "I'll bet you're really hungry!"

Ichigo growled. "You'd lose that bet, brat!" he yelled. He couldn't admit that food was sounding really good at this point – he knew what hunger signaled, and his ego wouldn't allow him to accept it.

"Oh, that's good," Jinta teased – he knew Ichigo was bluffing. "If you're only thirsty, you can drink my spit!" With that, he dropped a fat spitball from his mouth. Ururu joined in.

"Augh! You guys are gross! Cut it out!"

After a few minutes, the brats did stop, leaving Ichigo to his thoughts. _Shit… This isn't working at all… _He grimaced, angry with himself, and shifted to look up at the "sky." _How many hours has it been…? My sense of time is all fucked up now… I seriously have to figure this out soon, or I really will die…_

As he stared up at the painted ceiling, Jinta hopped down, running along the vertical wall, carrying a platter of food. "Yo!" he greeted as he landed on the ground. "I brought you a snack, since I figured you'd get hungry soon."

"Not gonna happen, brat," Ichigo snapped, a defiant smirk on his face. "Look – I've still got plenty of chain left."

Jinta snorted. "Whatever – I'm not carrying this shit back up with me. Since you probably have no idea what time it is, don't go acting all cocky."

Ichigo's defiance faded. "Time?"

"To put it bluntly, it's been exactly seventy hours since you landed in here. It won't be long before transformation… And one more thing… The speed of the previous attrition stages is _nothing_ compared to this last one!" That said, Jinta rushed back up the shaft wall, and, as if on a cue, the nausea started creeping in again.

Ichigo watched in horror as _every single link_ came alive and began feasting on one another. "Sh-shit! Holy fuck – cut it out!" he cried, as if he could somehow persuade the things to give up their cannibalism. He was shaking in a combination of fear and pain. A shock went through his body as the feeding links reached the base, ate into it, and shattered it, uncovering the hole in his chest. Time seemed to freeze for a moment, along with his blood. _I can't die! I can't die!! This isn't happening!!!_

Then the transformation began.

A pure white liquid spilled from his eyes and mouth and began molding itself onto his face as he screamed.

Tessai silently kept his attention focused on the boy, keeping the restraints steady.

"He's really turning into a Hollow!" Jinta said in wonder, reaching the edge of the shaft once again.

Ururu didn't respond for a moment. Then she sat up and held out her arm, hand fisted, and said, "Preparing Rescue Operation," quite calmly.

"Hold it," Urahara said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Kisuke-kun…"

"Watch him. Normally, when a person turns into a Hollow, the soul disintegrates and then regroups. However, his order is very different – his body has not changed. It's starting with the mask. It means he's resisting. It's not too late for him to become a Shinigami, so let's just watch him for just a bit longer to see if he's really going to let himself transform into a Hollow. Just a little longer."

"_Can you hear me, Ichigo?"_

_Ichigo opened his eyes to find himself in an odd world_

"_Over here."_

_He looked behind him to find a cloaked man with shades and long, messy hair standing quite calmly on what looked like a short flagpole sticking up from the ground._

"_Who…are you…?" Ichigo asked, still wondering where the hell he was._

"_Who am I? What are you talking about? It's me, ………" His mouth moved, but Ichigo couldn't hear the word._

_The boy looked at him in confusion. He knew he should know this man, but honestly had no idea who he was._

"_So you really have forgotten… That's sad. How many more times must I say it until you finally remember? And I thought no one in the world knows me better than you." As he spoke, he stepped back on the pole, standing parallel to the ground._

_Ichigo struggled, trying to remember who this gloomy man was. The information was on the tip of his tongue – just behind a closed door he had to figure out how to open. Suddenly, he registered the gravity defiance. "How did…? How did you do that?"_

"_I'm surprised. How can you sit there?"_

_The boy suddenly realized he was sitting on the side of a skyscraper! Whatever was keeping him there gave way just as suddenly, sending him plunging towards the ground. He screamed without thinking as the windows rushed past him faster and faster._

"_You can still yell!" the gloomy man exclaimed, following the boy as he fell. "That's amazing! Do not worry – Shinigami control death!"_

"_I'm not a Shinigami right now!!" he snapped. How could this man be so calm as they hurtled towards the street below?!_

"_You can still control the spirit particles around you – just focus them under your feet and use them to stand. Hurry up and remember your schooling!"_

_Ichigo shut his eyes tight, trying to recall his memories in his panic, but he wasn't having much luck._

"_Think, Ichigo! The only way to undo Kinome Kitsure's damage is to use the power of the Blood Oath that protected your power – you have to use Abarai Renji's blood!"_

_The boy opened his eyes again. Renji's blood?_

"_When Kitsure attacked you, the blood of your brother that flows in your veins activated the power of the bond and reburied your power deep in your soul, protecting it from destruction. That same blood must be activated to reawaken your powers!"_

"_Same blood…?"_

"_As this world begins to collapse, the only way for you to find you powers is to find the one box out of many that contains your Shinigami powers." Even as he spoke, the building they were once on was crumbling, sending boxes down in their same direction._

"_T-that's gonna be impossible! You're not making any sense!"_

"_You're making excuses! You don't have much time left – if you do not find your power before this world completely collapses, you will become a Hollow!"_

_Completely silent out of utter fear, Ichigo didn't even notice when the street dissolved away until he plunged into water, surrounded by darkness, though the objects around were still visible. His mind frantically scrambled for a solution, not even bothering to deal with the issue of how the hell he could possible still breathe underwater. His power is hidden in a box. Renji's blood hid his power._

_Memories flickered past – he couldn't tell if they were playing behind his eyes or projected against the nothing-water. The frantic warning of an approaching Hollow. Their dash to the hut. Ichigo's hesitation, quickly resolved with Renji pulling him inside. His attempt to run out again to lead the Hollow away quashed by Renji's protective embrace. Renji leading him down underground, never once letting him go. Renji's arms around him once they reached their destination, keeping him there and keeping him calm._

_He closed his eyes, desperately calling out Renji's name in his mind, trying to find the faintest hint of Renji's or his own Shinigami powers. He knew that his reiatsu and Renji's blood would act they way their owners would – so Renji's blood _had _to be with Ichigo's powers, staying there to keep them hidden._

_His confidence suddenly surged and his eyes opened wide, a grin on his face. All around him, spirit threads fluttered, connected to boxes. He instinctively reached for the most familiar-feeling one – the only red one – and grabbed it, yanking it close to pop open the lid of the box. Where he was expecting a ball of energy or some bright light, there was only the hilt of his zanpakutou. He recalled that it had shattered when Kitsure's attack landed. The black and white hilt, the tri-crescent guard, and a pathetic piece of the blade were the only things left._

"_Wow. You actually found it," the man said from behind him. "This time, you can recall my name."_

_Ichigo hesitated, his mind attempting to deal with the sudden shift._

"_What're you waiting for?!" the man finally snapped, as they both realized the world was dangerously close to complete collapse. "Hurry up and pull me out!"_

_Ichigo struggled with the hilt, trying his hardest to pull it from the box._

"_Ichigo!"_

"_I can't pull it out!!"_

The three continued to watch, becoming more worried by the second. The mask hadn't disappeared – Ichigo was still on his way to becoming a Hollow.

Tessai made a noise of surprise as the bindings around Ichigo's arms broke, unable to contain the surging power. "I think that's it, tenchou! I have to suppress him now!" he yelled, changing his position. "Bakudou no tsukumo dai ni ban! Bankin!" he chanted, initiating the high-level bakudou. "First song! Bankin!" he continued. White sheets of gauze-like ribbon wrapped around the half-Hollow Ichigo, binding him like a mummy. Oversized pins stuck into the wrappings in three rings around his head, shoulders, and torso, holding it in place

"Hey—Hey!! Tessai!" Jinta called frantically. "What're you doing?! If you use that, he'll die!"

"I can't do anything about it!" Tessai called back. "I have to do something before he becomes a Hollow!"

"Tessai!!"

"Last song! Great Bankin!" A huge square pillar materialized and rushed downward, intending to smash the bound boy under its weight.

A surge of power exploded from the hole in Ichigo's chest, ripping some of the wrappings to reveal a completed skull-like mask with large, glowing demonic-like eyes and an even more demonic, toothy grin.

"Wha…" Jinta moved away from the edge, rather frightened of the sight.

"That's it!" Tessai called as the pillar came close to finishing the job.

Urahara perked up, feeling the shift in power. He had just enough time to pull the other two to safety before and explosion of power erupted from the shaft.

"It—It exploded!" Jinta's voice was shaky. The raw power contained only within the walls of the underground cavern was unbalancing him – he'd never felt anything like it before. He gasped softly as something broke away from the blinding light. "H—hey!" he called, pointing to it. "Is that him?!" Before his question could be answered, the rogue piece of power crashed into the ground and he yelped.

As things started to calm down, Urahara let Jinta and Ururu go and watched the clearing smoke with them.

"W-what was that? What happened?" He couldn't help but be talkative – fear sent his motor mouth into high gear. "Is that him?" he asked, seeing the silhouette of something that at least _looked_ human. He yelped again as the figure's large eyes glowed, flashing through the dust. "It… It's coming out… Is that him?" he asked softly. He froze, his eyes impossibly wide, as the figure came into focus.

It was a man clothed in Shinigami robes and yet covered by the skull-like mask. One large strip of wrapping was still held by five or six skewers to his shoulder, draping it over his shoulder and twisting it around his arm and the guard of the zanpakutou held on his back. Another was still wrapped around the top of his head, partially covering one eye. The only thing officially recognizing him as Ichigo was the spiky orange hair.

"Is it…a Shinigami? Or a Hollow?" Jinta squeaked, confused and tense.

Ichigo slowly reached up and gripped the hilt of his zanpakutou. Jinta and Ururu tensed and went on the defensive, ready to fight. Jinta could easily cover up his fear with a fighter's determination when the situation called for it. Ururu, however, was still frightened into silence, though more than willing to fight this creature. The tension loosened a bit, however, when Ichigo freed the hilt and about an inch of blade from the sheath. Still, as if intending to fight them with the small piece alone, his arm swung out.

"Don't underestimate me! Come on!" Jinta yelled, his confidence bolstered.

Ichigo had no intention of fighting, though, as was evident when he smashed the base of the hilt into the mask, shattering it. With the lower half gone, he pulled the top half away from his face, revealing a quite normal, scowling boy.

"So…he didn't change into a Hollow?" Jinta asked in amazement.

Ignoring them, he flexed his fingers, testing his mobility. Having his arms bound for seventy hours straight left them a little numb.

"Congratulations," Urahara said finally, clapping slowly. "You are a complete Shinigami! Good job! You've passed Lesson Two!"

Annoyed, the boy smacked the shopkeeper right between the eyes with the base of the hilt.

"Ack!" He covered his face with his hands, his eyes tearing up just from the location of the hit, not to mention Ichigo's recovering strength.

"I'm gonna kill you!" he snapped. "I promised myself, when I made it out of that hole, I can and will kill you!"

"Oh?" Urahara looked up, quite curious. "Well then, that's okay. We can proceed to the third lesson. This is a test to make sure you've recovered your former glory."

"To make sure I remember everything, right?"

"Precisely! Now, there is no time limit for this one. All you have to do is cut down my hat and I'll admit defeat and…" Before he could finish, Ichigo had already charged at him. He shifted back just enough to avoid the invisible blade. Even though his zanpakutou was little more than a short fragment, he was still able to channel some amount of energy through it – enough to make an attack, albeit a weak one. The shopkeeper smirked upon noticing the nick in the brim of his hat. "That's good! For only having that much of your sword, you still manage to have some power!"

"Damn right! Kenpachi doesn't pick on me for nothin'!" Ichigo snapped. "Just wait 'til I get serious! Five minutes – that's all I need to finish you off!"

The shopkeeper smiled to himself. Ichigo's confidence – like everything else about him – affected everybody in range. "Sou ka? Five minutes it is," he confirmed, pulling on the hook end of his cane to reveal a blade sheathed inside.

* * *

Renji lay in a loose fetal position on the jail cell bed, shaking and panting. He had been dozing when the nightmare started – sleep wasn't keen on coming easily. For the past three days, he had been getting random bouts of nausea accompanied by stomachaches. Kira blamed it on his poor appetite, but nothing seemed to help. On the plus side, nothing made them worse, either. 

That night, though, a sudden, vicious wave of sickness and pain slammed into him – his chest felt like his heart was trying to eat its way out. The pain was so bad that Renji did the only thing he could think of – he escaped to his inner world. But the pain was even worse! Zabimaru advised him to stay in his world – what was happening to his body at the moment would only cause him to scream, which would alert the guards. When Renji asked why that would be a bad thing, Zabimaru sent him a brief glimpse of the unusual process taking place. A pristine white liquid was leaking from his eyes and mouth, which was slowly covering his face, hardening into a mask.

A Hollow mask!

As Zabimaru had predicted, Renji screamed, though while in his inner world, his body didn't react. When the pain got to the point where Renji didn't think he could take anymore, he felt a surge of power rush through his world. Zabimaru warned him to return to his body, which he heeded without question. Having already freaked out, Renji was able to keep himself silent as he returned to find the mask complete. He had no idea what was going on but…

Ichigo's voice echoed in his mind, calling his name. His right hand throbbed in a dull, comforting pain. He couldn't help but feel that this – whatever _this_ was – was Ichigo's doing. Which meant that Ichigo was _alive_. He closed his eyes. _Whatever you're doing… Wherever you are, Ichii… I'm still here. I'll always be here, I promise._

As soon as he said that, he felt another surge of power rush through him, shattering the spirit cuffs. It was all he could do to keep his flaring reiatsu confined within the walls of his cell, which were reinforced with a double-sided barrier, but even that was starting to buckle against the sheer force. He knew he could easily break free with this, but he didn't want to get himself in more trouble.

The surge finally faded, leaving him shaken and cold. He kept his eyes closed as he forced himself calm. After a moment, the mask cracked and fell away.

When he finally stopped shaking and his breathing was controlled, he sat up and ran his fingers over the bone fragments, turning them over. The top half of the mask was still complete, where the bottom half had been shattered into five fragments. With an odd smirk, he ran his fingers over the front of the top half, tracing the pattern on the forehead, which was exactly identical to the tattoos on his own forehead. _Ichigo… I have no idea what the hell you're doing, but I hope to dear God you survive. I hope you survive and come back to me. I don't care what happened to make the scar go away. Kira was right – the bond's not broken. This is something…rare and special, just like you, and I still fucking love you to hell and back again._

* * *

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(4134) (27650)  



	14. Remembering What You Should Know

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warnings**: Random interpretations and twists.  
**Notes**: Taken from the manga again, so if it's boring again... BITE ME. I had fun writing it, so if ya don't fuckin' like it, you can go suck an egg for all I care. Be happy I'm even updating. To everybody else who _liked_ the last chapter - thank you ‹3

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Remembering What You Should Know

* * *

The giant hole was still smoking when Tessai climbed out, looking no worse for wear. 

"Hey! You're okay, Tessai!" Jinta called.

"Not exactly. My glasses are broken," he replied plainly.

"I meant you don't have any bodily wounds…" Jinta clarified with a mutter. "Whatever – even if they're broken, keep them on," he said, turning back to the fight. "Tenchou's drawn his sword – it's gonna get exciting. You don't wanna miss this!"

Indeed, as he spoke, Urahara was easily on the offensive, while Ichigo struggled to hold his own with just the short piece of his zanpakutou. He could attack, sure. Blocking, though, was an entirely different story.

"Y'know, you're pretty good with that small thing," Ichigo said with a tired smirk.

"Heh, thanks for the compliment – I'm all embarrassed," the older man replied happily. "But," he continued, not letting up, "I'm not going to go easy on you because you said that."

"Dammit!" Ichigo growled, putting on another burst of speed. He was getting desperate – resorting to flattery, of all things! _Wait! Hold up – the only things that can kill Hollows and Shinigami are zanpakutou! That sword came from his cane – it shouldn't be a Soul Slayer, right?! So even if he hits, I'll be okay!_ As he thought, he slowed down and turned, only to be immediately attacked, receiving a slice down the side of his head that knocked the remaining piece of the mask from his hair and cut him right down the shoulder. He froze in surprise.

Luckily for him, Urahara seemed to have realized what Ichigo was thinking. "You seem relaxed. 'He's not a Shinigami, so he shouldn't have a zanpakutou. Even if he hits, nothing will happen.' That's what you're thinking, right?" He snorted. "You are naïve." Pointing his sword downward, he commanded, "Wake up, Benihime."

As Ichigo watched, the simple sword turned into an authentic zanpakutou with an angled hilt and a red ribbon. His eyes widened. _So the cane…is the sealed state? But that's… And he's…_ He could barely make a coherent thought through his confusion.

"Do you see now?" he said, his normally goofy temperament gone without a trace. "Go, Benihime."

The true assault began, sending Ichigo scrambling. _I still can't remember!! How the hell is this possible?! I should be able to remember by now!!_ He thought he could cry as he remembered that he'd only released his sword once, just to prove he could. It was tough to seal it again, so he just kept it that way. Even sealed, it was still pretty powerful. More than enough to accomplish his job.

Urahara's attack sent him flying and skidding across the dirt. Ichigo faced his assailant and immediately had to bring the broken blade up, blocking Benihime against the metal, stopping the attack just inches from his face.

"I see you're blocking my attacks instead of running. I should compliment you for your courage. However, a sword of your nature is not enough to block Benihime." To prove his point, Benihime's blade sank into his own.

In a panic, Ichigo sprang backwards as Benihime's weight gave way, slicing cleanly through the blade. He started running again. _Of my nature? What the hell does that mean?!_

"You have a vast amount of power, Ichigo, but you do not give it up easily to your zanpakutou. It was weak to begin with, and now, out of instinctive fear, you're keeping your power in yourself. You are stronger than I, but you put no trust in your zanpakutou. That is why I am able to cut through it so easily." The blade flashed quickly and Ichigo suddenly found the guard sliced cleanly down the center, breaking it and what was left of the blade from the hilt.

"Now… Your sword is no more," Urahara pointed out in an almost taunting manner. "Now what? Are you still going to use it to beat me? What was all that talk about? You just have to slash my hat – can you do it with just that hilt?" He was deliberately provoking him, using a condescending tone, preying on Ichigo's ego. "This can no longer be solved with guts and courage. Let me tell you this right now…" His voice was suddenly cold. "If you still intend to fight me with that toy, I will have to kill you."

Ichigo's eyes were wide, reflecting pure fear in them, and almost without thinking, he bolted – pure fight-or-flight instincts, and fighting was out of the question. _Oh dear God!! It's over! I'm really…really gonna die!!_

Urahara caught up to him and attacked.

_This is embarrassing!_

Ichigo just barely dodged, getting cut in the process.

_What the fuck am I doing?!_

The boy bolted again.

_Why am I running?!_

Urahara gave chase and easily caught him by the back of his robes.

_Everything I've gone through…is going to end in this?_

The man threw him to the ground –

_This is pathetic!_

– and raised his sword to attack.

_Embarrassingly pathetic!_

On pure reflex, Ichigo rolled out of the way just quick enough to avoid the blow.

_I am…_

He scrambled to his feet, attempting to flee once again.

…_a complete…and utter…disgrace._

Adrenaline rushed, leaving him numb, stumbling ungracefully in his hasty retreat.

"_Omae wa…"_

Ichigo's head snapped up, recognizing the voice. "Old man…?"

"_Why do you run, Ichigo?"_

He was still fleeing, though it felt like time was standing still.

"_You still haven't called me."_

He slowed and looked back at him.

"_Ichigo, look forward. You should be able to remember my name now. The one thing preventing you from that is the worthless emotion of fear."_

Ichigo halted, the realization hitting him hard and where it hurt him the most.

"_What are you afraid of?"_

He looked up, feeling steady for the first time in a while.

"_Forget your fear. Remember your upbringing."_

Urahara watched him, starting to feel the shift of attitude in the boy's reiatsu.

"_Look forward. Walk forth, and never stop."_

Both man and boy slid into a ready stance simultaneously.

"_The more you turn back, the farther you take yourself from your reason."_

Ichigo's determination made its way to his face. His reason – his _sole_ reason for anything and everything was Renji. It had always been Renji. As that conviction solidified, his reiatsu flared up around him, focused and purposeful.

"_Cowardice deserves only death! Say it: my name is…"_

"ZANGETSU!" He yelled the name in a battle cry, sending powerful attack at a rather surprised Urahara. The blaze of energy slammed into the rocks Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta were hiding behind, sending up another thick cloud of dust and smoke.

"What is it this time?" Jinta squeaked out. He poked his head out over the boulder. As the dust cleared, Urahara was standing uninjured, his free hand holding his hat on his head.

A few moments later, they were able to see Ichigo, who was kneeling down on one knee, his elbow against the other, steadying him. His other hand was gripped around the plainly wrapped hilt of a giant knife-like sword almost as tall as him when he stood.

"That's his zanpakutou?" Jinta breathed.

"There's no hand guard…" Ururu pointed out, sounding a little worried.

"The sword's shape is not yet complete," Tessai said. "His original sword was much better if you compare them."

Ichigo tested the weight of the sword in his hand, finding that the unusual shape was no problem for him. It felt natural in his hands. Something else besides the blade itself was off, though. He couldn't place it, but the resurfaced power, along with realizing the meaning of Urahara's words, made him feel more powerful than he had ever been.

"Since your zanpakutou has appeared, let's start this for real!" Urahara's happy-go-lucky nature was back.

"Warui, Urahara-san," Ichigo said calmly. "You will have to hide very well," he finished, facing him. His brown eyes shined with a confidence and assurance that didn't need to be expressed in words. It was in his voice, in his eyes, in his stance, in his power. He was finally stable.

"Eh…?"

"I don't think I'm going to hold back," he explained, raising the shining blade.

Urahara quickly went on the defensive, yelling, "Cry, Benihime!" as Ichigo's blade swung down.

The energy attack and Urahara's defense clashed with an explosion, sending up yet another large dust cloud. Above the cloud, though, fluttered a green and white striped hat with maybe a fifth of it sheared off with a clean cut.

"Aiya…" Urahara breathed as the dust cleared, revealing a semi-transparent blood-red rectangle in front of him, acting as a shield, though the edges were cracked and frayed. "If it wasn't for the blood-mist shield, I would have lost an arm," he said in amazement. His hat landed on the ground near him and he picked it up. "Even my hat got a good beating," he mused, dusting it off. He stuck it back on his head as he looked back at Ichigo. "I really didn't expect…that one swing to be so powerful…" He watched the boy, who was back down on one knee, supported by the sword gripped tightly in one hand, the other hand resting in the crook of his elbow, that arm supporting his head. "Kurosaki-san… You're one scary kid…" He smirked, seeing that Ichigo was asleep and drooling a bit. He followed the trail of destruction through the ground past him that continued through the rocks, the deep crevice having gone cleanly through the tall boulders as well. "You have passed Lesson Three," he said softly, not hiding the pride in his voice.

* * *

"Is that…a Hollow mask?" Kira asked. Renji had requested that he bring "something to stick things together with," so Kira did. As Renji stuck the pieces together with the glue, it became evident that it was indeed a Hollow-like mask. "How did this happen?" 

"Dunno – it was happening the same time the spirit cuffs shattered," Renji explained. "I have no idea what happened – I just know it had something to do with Ichigo."

"How do you know that?"

"I heard his voice inside my head. It wasn't a memory – it was like the same as when Zabimaru talks. He was saying my name the way he does when he's trying to find me, but it was like he was trying to ask for help. Like he was saying 'Renji, where are you? I need to find you. I need your help.' He's only gotten like that once before, when we were still in Rukongai. All I wanted to do was be there for him, but this time I couldn't. I tried to reach out, but I can only go so far… I don't know if it reached him. I said that I was there for him, and I'd always be there for him. Then things started calming down and the mask broke on its own."

Kira pondered this for a moment. "It almost seems like…Ichigo was going through a complete Hollow transformation, and somehow managed to stop it or reverse it."

"That doesn't make any sense, though. After Kit's attack took its full effect, assuming he didn't die, he would've either been left with a short, broken chain, or no chain at all. A Hollow transformation would have happened within twenty-four hours, or after at least a month. Not three days. It doesn't make any sense."

"Renji, nothing about this entire situation makes any sense. It probably would if we knew what was happening on Ichigo's side, but the fact is that we don't, and we have to make do with the information we do have."

Renji sighed and traced his fingers over the forehead tattoos on the mask. It only covered the parts of his face that weren't covered by hair, which meant that the forehead shot up in two peaks, following his extreme hairline. The eyeholes were inked in a mascara-like fashion, continuing back past the main edge of the mask in another spike that stopped above his ear. The mouth was a demonic, toothy grin that went from one side of the bottom half all the way to the other, and although there wasn't anything naturally holding the jaw together, the mask didn't separate. "Are you sure that he was able to stop it?"

"Well, you're still a shinigami, right? If it had something to do with Ichigo, then we can assume that whatever was happening to him was happening to you, too, through the bond." Kira paused, then chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny?"

"A bond that transcends worlds – it just sounds so…romantic. So unlike you two," he explained.

Renji snorted, but couldn't hide a quirky smirk.

"Anyway," Kira went on, "if that's true, then you went through the same exact thing as he did, and since you're still a shinigami, I think we can assume that Ichigo is also."

"You mean…like regaining his powers?"

"The only way to avoid becoming a Hollow in the real world is by becoming a shinigami. As impossible as it should be, I'm inclined to believe that Ichigo has indeed regained his shinigami powers."

"But…how? Kitsure destroyed it…"

"The Blood Oath," Kira suggested softly. "It must have somehow been sacrificed in place of Ichigo's power."

"But the bond's still there – it's just the scar that's gone…"

The blond chuckled. "The bond between you two is so much more than just the Oath, Renji. The Blood Bond was sacrificed, not your love."

Renji's cheeks tinted pink and he gave a shy smile. "Why is it that everybody else has to point out these things that I should know?"

"Because you're an idiot," Kira said affectionately, patting Renji's head.

The redhead chuckled and swiped Kira's hand away. "Yeah, thanks, Kira," he replied.

"Any time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have paperwork to do," Kira said, getting up from his seat.

"Have fun with that," Renji replied, back to studying the mask.

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

Vocabulary...  
Omae wa: You (_condescending_) (Note: "Omae" means "you," "wa" is just a particle, though it's necessary in Japanese)  
Warui: (_akin to_) My bad (basically a slang/informal form of "sorry")

* * *

(2334) (29984) 


	15. Words Still Can't Describe This

**Disclaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warnings**: The usual...  
**Notes**: Sorry this took so long to get up... Life's catching up and apathy's kicking in...

* * *

_Chi Chikai_  
Words Still Can't Describe This

* * *

Ichigo was staying in the spare room until he could relocate his Hell Butterfly. Urahara, though, had recruited the services of one Yoruichi (he hadn't given a second name) to track down the little bugger. But until Yoruichi arrived, Ichigo was in training. He had to learn how to wield the new Zangetsu as well as he'd wielded the old one. And since the new Zangetsu was permanently stuck in shikai, he also had to learn how to gauge his power so he wasn't going overboard.

Talking to the shopkeeper was fairly frustrating, but Ichigo had managed to find the words to make the man listen seriously. After discussing the oddities of the situation involving his attempted "arrest," Urahara had agreed that something was definitely off. When he'd gone through the normal politics of Soul Society, it confirmed Ichigo's suspicions that Urahara was indeed an authentic shinigami, though why the man was _here_, he didn't ask. Getting answers from him was like pulling teeth.

The man did, however, suggest that Ichigo investigate it by any means necessary, at the very least just to get his boyfriend out of jail. He'd be taking a huge risk, of course, by doing so, but Urahara had just joked with it, saying that they could always stay in his house. Even though the suggestion was absurd, Ichigo figured that it didn't matter if they were in Soul Society or here in the real world – as long as they were together, it didn't matter.

* * *

"Something's still off," Ichigo grumbled as Rukia entered the room, forming yet another simple ball of energy. He had his shirt off and was covered in fresh bandages due to injuries sustained from his latest sparring match – this one with Tessai. "I can't place it, though."

"Maybe it's just because your zanpakutou is different," she suggested, closing the door behind her before she sat down and opened up the bag she was carrying. "Cream puff?" she offered.

Ichigo dispersed the ball and accepted the food with a smile. "Thanks. I think Zangetsu's different _because_ my power's different. Not the other way around," he added, biting into the puff.

"Would it have anything to do with the way you got your powers back?"

The boy thought about it, recalling the horrific feeling of the pseudo-Hollow transformation. He frowned. "I sure as hell hope not…" he mumbled.

"Ah! Welcome home, Yoruichi-san!" Urahara's voice called from the other room.

Ichigo got up. "Geeze, finally. How long does it take a guy to get here?" he muttered as he walked out of the room. He found the blond shopkeeper holding a black cat and talking to it. "Is that…Yoruichi?" he asked skeptically.

The feline focused its yellow eyes on him. "How rude. It's Yoruichi-_san_ to you, boy," he snapped.

Ichigo jumped, surprised. "'The hell?!"

Urahara grinned, affectionately scratching the cat behind his ears. "Don't be so harsh, Yoruichi-san. Kurosaki-san is, after all, just a Rukongai rat."

Ichigo glowered. As much as he'd called himself just that, hearing it in Urahara's condescending tone just plain pissed him off. Forcing himself to swallow his pride, he bowed. "Please forgive me, Yoruichi-san," he said politely. "My name is Kurosaki Ichigo. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Yoruichi smirked and hopped down from Urahara's arms to sit in front of him. "So they still teach manners at the Academy?"

Ichigo knelt down to his level. "Not exactly – they just smacked us around a bit. Had to learn it on our own."

The feline chuckled. "So the Hell Butterfly I'm locating is yours?"

"Yeah."

"His reiatsu's changed, Yoruichi-san," Urahara explained. "It's not exactly a noticeable shift, but his Butterfly won't respond to him like it normally should."

Yoruichi turned his head to look at Urahara. "So I'm to track down this wayward Butterfly so this boy can retrain it? It would almost be faster to use the makeshift senkaimon."

"Yes, but it would make things more difficult for Kurosaki-san if he goes into Soul Society as a ryoka."

"Hmmm… I suppose you're right," Yoruichi sighed, turning back to the boy. He studied him for a moment. "It's too bad you're taken – you're quite attractive for a child from the 78th," he said before turning around and walking off. "I'll be back with the Butterfly. Ja."

Ichigo flushed. "'For a child from the 78th'? What's that supposed to mean?" he growled.

"Ah, Yoruichi-san is from nobility," Urahara explained with a chuckle.

"How is a _cat_ from nobility?" Ichigo asked.

"Ready for another round of training, Kurosaki-san?" the man asked, completely ignoring Ichigo's question.

The orange-haired boy stood up with a sigh. "Do I have a choice?" he muttered before following him to the underground training room.

"Kuchiki-san," Urahara called, "could you assist Tessai in the kitchen?"

"Hai, Kisuke-kun!" Rukia answered.

* * *

Ichigo lay awake that night, the sheets thrown off in agitation, leaving his shirtless, bandaged torso exposed in the moonlight streaming through the window. His arms were folded behind his head and his brown eyes were staring at the ceiling as his restlessness ate at him. He had been in training for most of the day, so he should be exhausted, but that couldn't be further from the frustrating reality.

With an irritated sigh, he got to his feet and looked out the window at the full moon. _It's only because I'm not with him…_ After a moment, he was outside, running across the rooftops to the outskirts of the town where there were miles and miles of grassy fields. He was used to this sort of energy – he and Renji both felt the surge during the full moon, but when they were together, it was easily put to good use. But the excess energy tonight only reminded him of his frustrating predicament, making him want to scream and cry and punch a solid brick wall all at the same time. And then there was still the nagging issue in the back of his mind of why his reiatsu had shifted, why his energy felt slightly yet noticeably different.

He stopped in the middle of the field, panting lightly. With an inaudible cry of aggravation, he let his reiatsu flare up around him, deliberately forcing the power out of his body. _Just get out of my body! Whatever is wrong with me, just go away! I just want to go back to normal, that's all!!_

As his power drained, leaving him weakened, he dropped to his hand and knees, but he still continued to force the energy out. When he felt something wet on his hand, he opened his eyes to find his vision blurred with tears. Slowly, he allowed himself to let up on pouring his energy out, giving way instead to the tears of frustration.

* * *

"Really, was it necessary to come all the way out here?"

Ichigo's eyes fluttered open to the sound of a somewhat familiar voice. "Hnn…?" he responded sleepily, still trying to figure out where he was.

"Were you trying to kill yourself? Or was this just some stupid display of teenage angst?"

His eyes focused on the black cat. _Oh yeah… Yoruichi was out searching for my Butterfly…_ "Neither," he replied softly. "The shift in my power doesn't feel right – I don't really know what I was trying to do, but I had to do something before I punched a hole in the wall."

The feline eyed him. "Luckily the Limit didn't disappear when your power was destroyed, otherwise you might've done some real damage."

"Sorry…"

"It's in the past now, child. You did manage to produce one good thing out of your stupidity, though. Look up."

Ichigo thought Yoruichi was being metaphorical, but rolled to his back, trying to see what Yoruichi was looking at. Above him, a black butterfly fluttered in lazy circles. He laughed and reached up, letting his Hell Butterfly land on his hand. "I thought Urahara said he wouldn't respond right…"

"As brilliant as Kisuke is, he has been known to be wrong, though he'll never admit it."

The boy sat up, watching the lazy butterfly on his hand. "You said it was because of what I did…" He looked at Yoruichi. "So what happened?"

"I found it around the same area you were nearly killed. I was wondering how to capture it when it suddenly took off towards you when your power flared. I just followed it until we found you here." Yoruichi paused. "Something wrong?" he asked, seeing Ichigo frowning at the butterfly – thought not as though he was mad, it was more in thought and concentration.

"It's Renji's," he said.

"Hm?"

"It's Renji's Butterfly, not mine…"

"That is rather odd… It was the only one there. But now that you mention it, it was flying around both blood stains…"

"But why would his Butterfly respond to my reiatsu?"

"I'd commend you on your curiosity, but now isn't the right time. Just accept it – blame it on the Blood Bond if you have to. As long as you have a Hell Butterfly with you, you'll be able to go through the senkaimon – doesn't matter _whose_ Butterfly it is."

"I don't think 'blame' is the right word," Ichigo muttered, standing up. The Butterfly lifted off, beginning its lazy fluttering once again as Ichigo dropped his hand.

Yoruichi snorted and took off. Ichigo wasn't long in following.

* * *

"Wai! It's so pretty!" Rukia exclaimed as the black swallowtail fluttered about. She giggled as it landed on her head for a second before taking off again.

"So it's Abarai-san's?" Urahara clarified.

Ichigo nodded. "I mean, we mix up our crap sometimes, but I think switching Butterflies is a little extreme, even for us."

"This has never happened before?"

"Nope – we keep them in separate cages."

"Huh. How odd…"

"You're telling me…"

"Well, as long as it's responding to you, it doesn't matter, right?"

"But what happened to _my_ Butterfly?"

"It probably followed Abarai-san. Or maybe it's dead."

"Can that happen?"

Urahara just shrugged and wandered off. Yoruichi followed him.

"I hope you're aware of what you turned him into," Yoruichi said once they were out of hearing range from Ichigo and Rukia.

"Hmmm?"

"Your reckless move with the Shattered Shaft – his near-transformation into a Hollow didn't come without consequence, Kisuke."

"Ah, yes, I am aware of that. I wouldn't worry about it, though. As long as he doesn't try to go up against somebody stronger than him, there shouldn't be much of a problem."

"You don't honestly believe that he's going to stick with fighting those weaker than him, do you?"

"We will worry about it when the time comes, Yoruichi-san."

Yoruichi sighed. "I'm going with him to Soul Society then."

"Hm? Are you sure?"

"I'm worried."

Urahara smirked and pet the feline softly. "I'd be worried if you weren't."

* * *

Ichigo sighed and leaned back on his hands, watching Renji's Butterfly make its lazy circuit around him and Rukia.

"What happens if your Butterfly dies?" Rukia piped up.

"I dunno," he answered with a shrug. "It's never been brought up."

"What if Renji-kun has it?"

Ichigo just shrugged again. "If he's in jail, they've confiscated it."

The butterfly landed on Ichigo's shoulder and slowly moved its wings. Ichigo glanced at it and sighed. "We use the Butterflies for messages, too – not just to pass us through the senkaimon."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Does this one have a message?"

Ichigo nodded but didn't say anything.

The girl waited for a moment before asking, "What is it?"

He glanced at her, debating whether or not to tell her. "It's just something we said when we were still students."

She was interested now. "What was it?"

"You have to _promise_ not to laugh or make fun of me if I tell you."

"I promise!"

He sighed. "It's 'Aishiteru, zutto zutto,'" he said softly, his ears and cheeks going pink.

Rukia giggled. "That's cute."

Ichigo's face just went redder. "Shut up…"

"No, really! That's really sweet!"

"It's stupid," he retorted stubbornly.

She hit him in the shoulder. "What you mean by it isn't stupid, though. Renji's your koibito – it's only natural to say things like that to each other."

"Well, yeah, but telling you…"

She laughed. "You should be proud that you can tell me – most guys are too scared."

"You already know, anyway. It's not like my dorkiness is gonna change anything…"

Rukia laughed and threw her arms around him in a hug. "You're a cute dork, though," she cooed, messing with his hair.

"Get off me!" Ichigo snapped, shoving her away with his arm.

She laughed again and let go to settle back down.

"You're a pain…" he grumbled.

After a few minutes of watching the Butterfly again, Rukia asked, "Do you miss him?"

"Of course, idiot," Ichigo snapped.

"I'm being serious!"

"Why?"

"Because… I don't know…" she sighs. "I just want to know how serious you are."

He watched her, confused. "Why?"

"Why can't you just tell me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, I miss him. A lot," he sighed, drawing his knees up and crossing his arms on top of them. "I can't get to sleep without him – that's why I had to run out last night. He's everything to me. I can't explain it much more beyond that… Words can't describe this…" He had to squeeze his eyes shut as he attempted to ignore the torrential emotions stirred up by the memory of Renji saying those exact same words just after their first kiss. Trying to hide the pain on his face, he rested his forehead against his arms.

Rukia frowned, worried and concerned. In a blind attempt to help him, she lightly touched his shoulder, but pulled back when he tensed. She sighed to herself – there was nothing she could do to help. "Gomennasai," she whispered before getting up and leaving.

Ichigo didn't move. He had bitten the inside of his lip hard enough to draw blood in an effort to keep himself from forcing his reiatsu to flare in frustration again. _Words can't describe this pain…_

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**_  
_

* * *

Vocabulary...  
Aishiteru zutto zutto: (_akin to_) "Love, forever and ever," or "I love you forever and ever."  
Koibito: sweetheart

* * *

(2353) (32337) 


	16. Kiuta

**Dislcaimer**: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.  
**Warning**: Nothing special  
**Notes**: Uhh... Wow, nearly a month, huh? Eheheh... Please don't kill me ;.;

* * *

Chi Chikai : Kiuta

* * *

Ichigo lay awake once more, tossing and turning into the middle of the night. His eyes refused to stay closed, and his mind refused to shut off. Finally, he got up and got dressed in his shihakushou, grabbed Zangetsu, and scribbled down a note to leave on his empty bed before he left the house. He only had to get far enough away so that Urahara or any of them wouldn't feel the ripple.

* * *

"_Ichii-chan!" Yachiru called, making her way over to the orange-haired boy by way of heads, shoulders, and outstretched limbs until she finally attached herself to Ichigo's shoulder. "Ken-chan wants to see you," she chirped._

"_Right now?" Ichigo asked._

"_Right away!" she confirmed with a happy nod of her pink head._

"_I'll see you back home," Renji said with a smirk before brushing past him. Their hands met momentarily with a brief squeeze – a small habit._

_Yachiru giggled. "Off to see Ken-chan!"_

"_What does he want me for, anyway?" Ichigo said as he made his way to the Eleventh Division office._

"_Something important. He said I was not to let you out of my sight until you were in his office."_

_Ichigo nodded and the rest of the walk was in silence. When he reached the building, Yachiru hopped from his shoulder and ran ahead into Kenpachi's office. Ichigo followed soon after._

"_You wanted to see me?"_

"_I'm only gonna say this once, Kurosaki. It's up to you if I say it again," Kenpachi grunted. The more business side of running the division wasn't his cup of tea._

"_Alright," Ichigo said with a nod of his head._

"_You're on par with any vice-captain in the entire Gotei. If I release a status report claiming that, you'll probably be promoted."_

"_Which would take me to another division," Ichigo noted._

"_Yep."_

_Ichigo shook his head. "I don't care what gets said, but I have no desire to transfer to another division."_

_Kenpachi smirked. "An' I got no desire of givin' up my best officer."_

_The young shinigami smirked in return. "Is that it, then?"_

"_Yep. Suppose you wanna get back to Abarai."_

_Ichigo just chuckled. There was always an odd sort of calm respect underlying the captain's words when he spoke of Ichigo's and Renji's relationship – something that made Kenpachi the only person who could say things like that and not have Ichigo turn red. "Yeah. I'll see ya tomorrow," he said, turning to go._

"_Bright'n'early – we've got training day," the captain said with a feral grin._

* * *

He found a good spot a few blocks away on top of a business building. "Hope you can still do this, Zangetsu," he muttered before taking the sword from his back. Even though Ichigo was never promoted to vice-captaincy, he'd been trained as one, and he was taught how to open the gate on his own – something only captains and vice-captains were privileged to. 

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and held Zangetsu straight out in front of him. He had to concentrate a little more in order to get the exit right. He wouldn't be using a designated gate point – those were all guarded. When he was sure he'd set it right, he twisted the Zanpakutou clockwise. "Open!"

* * *

"That child is even more restless than the girl," Yoruichi spat, pacing back and forth as Urahara read the note. 

"_Thanks for all your help, but I need to do the rest of this on my own. Renji and I will survive this, and we will come back and repay you as soon as we can. Kurosaki Ichigo,_" Urahara recited.

"His recklessness is going to get him killed."

"Yoruichi-san… Take note that he did not say '_if_ we survive' – he said 'we _will_ survive.' His confidence and his life force are correlated. He will be fine for a day until we can get our senkaimon open."

The feline sighed in frustration, giving up. There was nothing they could do. But if Kisuke believed in him, then Yoruichi could believe in him, too.

* * *

Ichigo stepped out of the gate and let out the breath he'd been holding. He'd gotten it right – he was standing in the middle of his and Renji's bedroom. Relief and familiarity washed over him and he dropped to his knees in exhaustion, letting Zangetsu clatter to the floor. 

"Ichigo?" somebody called.

The boy tensed and felt for the signature. He relaxed a bit. "What're you doing here, Ekitai?" he answered.

The thin, pale man appeared at the doorway. "Should say the same for you. Renji asked me to keep an eye on the place. And it's Kitanai-fukutaichou to you."

Ichigo stuck his tongue out – the Sixth Division vice-captain was a good friend of his. He got to his feet again and said, "I'm here to get Renji out of whatever shit Kitsure got him into."

"You mean Kinome-fukutaichou."

"He got promoted? When?"

"After he killed you – or said he killed you. Center 46 put him as a candidate for vice-captain and Soifon jumped at the chance to replace that bumbling idiot of a vice-captain."

"Soifon-taichou," Ichigo pointed out. Ekitai's random mix of polite and informal speech patterns was always amusing.

Ekitai rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Point is – how the hell're you still alive?"

"Luck," he stated truthfully. "A helluva lotta luck. Look – I know I'm supposed to be dead, and if anybody else knew I was alive and in Seireitei, I'd be hunted down and thrown into jail along with Renji."

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Ekitai said, digging out his cigarettes.

"I'm trying to get him _out_ of jail, so no, it'd be a very _bad_ thing. On top of that, something's not right – whether it's Center 46 or something else, I don't know, but something's really screwed up if they're authorizing the killing of humans and marking candidates on the basis of a kill count…" He shook his head. "I have a feeling it's only gonna get worse…"

"Would Renji being sentenced to death by the Soukyoku be considered worse?" he deadpanned, lighting the cigarette in his mouth.

Ichigo's eyes went wide. "What the hell?! You're kidding…!"

"I wish. Kitsure made it sound like you and Renji had some sort of conspiracy going or something. They bought it – hook, line, and sinker. Renji's a marked traitor."

"Oh my God…" Ichigo breathed, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't know what's goin' on here – seems like everybody's got their head up their ass these days and the rest of us just ain't loud enough to be heard. Things are getting way out of hand."

Ichigo sighed. "Ekitai… I need to ask you a favor as a friend."

"Ask away."

"Don't tell Renji that I'm here."

"I ain't gonna tell anyone you're here. You've got some sort of plan and if it's gonna help fix this, count me in. With the way things are going, I'll lose my position to some killing machine. All the authorities in the Gotei will be Eleventh Division grunts."

Ichigo nodded. Even as an officer of said division, he wouldn't deny that the subordinate shinigami weren't the brightest crayons in the box – as Rukia had put it, they were all brutes.

"I'll leave Odoriko here with you to make sure nobody finds you. Get some rest – you look like shit," he added as he unsheathed his zanpakutou.

"Thank you…" Ichigo said softly, crawling under the covers. The familiar, comforting scent of his lover was still in everything – it was the next best thing to Renji himself.

Ekitai stuck the sword in the floorboards in the middle of the doorway. "I know you heard me. Be a good girl."

A young girl with pale skin and long black hair manifested, dressed in some black and red gothic Lolita outfit. "Odoriko shall see to it that Master Ichigo is not found," she stated with a curtsy.

Ekitai nodded and looked back at Ichigo, who was already fast asleep. He smirked and walked off, leaving his zanpakutou to guard the boy.

* * *

Ichigo sat Indian-style on the bed, his head cradled in his hands as he tried to figure out exactly what he was going to do now that he was here. 

"Master Ichigo is troubled…" Odoriko's young voice interrupted his thoughts.

He looked up to find the child-like zanpakutou spirit watching him curiously. "Yeah…" he sighed.

Odoriko looked down and traced a pattern out on the floorboards, leaving behind a faint red glow. "Master Ichigo…is afraid?"

"Huh?" Now that he thought about it, he realized that he _was_ afraid. He was scared to death of failing, of losing Renji, of dying… "Fuck…" he groaned.

"Master Ichigo cannot move forward if he is not sure of his feet…" she stated calmly, making more patterns on the floorboards.

Ichigo started recognizing some of the patterns she was marking. "Does Odoriko know how to help?" he asked, following her third-person speech pattern.

The girl got to her feet and gently placed her small hands over his eyes, closing them. "Hanasu."

Ichigo let his body relax – Odoriko's voice had a calming affect.

She took her hands away and stepped back as a soft acoustic guitar started playing slowly, coming from nowhere in particular.

Ichigo had witnessed this before between Odoriko and Ekitai, but he'd never experienced it. He let go of himself and the words of the song found their way out of his mouth. "_We'll do it all…everything…on our own… We don't need…anything…or anyone…_

"_If I lay here… If I just lay here…would you lie with me and just forget the world?_

"_I don't quite know…how to say…how I feel… Those three words…are said too much…they're not enough…_

"_If I lay here… If I just lay here…would you lie with me and just forget the world? Forget what we're told…before we get too old…just show me a garden that's bursting into life._

"_Let's waste time…chasing cars…around our heads… I need your grace…to remind me…to find my own…_

"_If I lay here… If I just lay here…would you lie with me and just forget the world? Forget what we're told…before we get too old…just show me a garden that's bursting into life. All that I am… All that I ever was… Was here in your perfect eyes – I just couldn't see. I don't know where… Confused about how as well… Just know that these things will never change for us at all._

"_If I lay here… If I just lay here…would you lie with me and just forget the world?_"

When the guitar finally faded, Ichigo let his eyes slip open. Odoriko was sitting down on her knees, her hands on the ground, looking up at Ichigo with a sort of admiration. "Sugoi…" she whispered.

"N-nani…?" His face flushed, but he didn't really know why.

"You shoulda seen those colors," Ekitai said, startling Ichigo. The silver-haired man was leaning against the doorframe, idly tapping his fingers against the hilt of his sword. "Kiuta – soul song. The patterns Odoriko traced on the floor light up in different colors and intensities corresponding to your voice, which, with kiuta, is from your soul."

"Odoriko is honored to have been given this privilege to witness your passionate heart," the girl said, bowing low enough to touch her forehead to the ground. "Gochisou-sama de shita. Arigatou gozaimasu," she added before disappearing back into the sword.

"Hope that helped a bit. I gave her permission to do what she could," Ekitai said, sheathing the zanpakutou.

"Yeah, it did. Thank you," Ichigo replied.

Ekitai dug out a cigarette and lit it before going on. "That's good. Renji's execution date's been moved up."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

**- - - - - - - - - - - - -**

* * *

Vocabulary... (if any of these are wrong or off, please let me know) 

Hanasu: let go, set free  
Sugoi: wow  
Nani: what  
Gochisou-sana de shita: Thank you for the treat (Note: "treat" is in reference to food, but for Odoriko, the beauty created by the kiuta is nourishment for her, in a way)  
Arigatou gozaimasu: Thank you (formal)

* * *

The song Ichigo sings is the acoustic version of "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol.

* * *

(1961) (34198)

* * *

Omake! This is a small piece I wrote when planning Ekitai out - hope you like it! 

"When's the last time you ate?"

Ekitai looked at the boy, then back out towards the forest. "I do not need to eat."

Ichigo frowned, confused. "Don't need to eat?"

"Not as you eat. Food nourishes you – beauty nourishes me."

He cocked his head to the side. "How so?"

"Curious, are we?" Ekitai snubbed the cigarette out and got up. He came back momentarily with his zanpakutou. He unsheathed the dark silver blade and laid it out in front of him before sitting back down. "Odoriko, we have a guest among us," he said softly.

A young girl appeared in front of them. She had pale skin made whiter by her long black hair, blood-red lipstick, black eye shadow, and black and red gothic Lolita outfit, ending with laces down her porcelain legs to her ballerina shoes.

Ekitai smiled just slightly. "Please choose a song, m'lady."

Odoriko giggled and an eerie tinkling tune began, coming from nowhere, and she began to dance.

Ekitai closed his eyes, a soft chuckle emitting from his thin lips. "_Make me blind…cover my eyes… You can do what…you want. I'm paralyzed for the perfect for the perfect mood when we're dancing with blindfolds on. You make it easy to love you and hate you. Can't explain it, I feel insecure… Say it simple – we die just to live again… Say we're waiting for the Last Waltz…_"

Ichigo was amazed. Ekitai's voice was absolutely beautiful, accentuated by Odoriko's dancing and her voice during the chorus. Even more amazing was the energy flowing between them – he understood now how Ekitai could fulfill his need for nourishment this way…

When the song ended, Odoriko bowed and disappeared back into the zanpakutou. Ekitai had a wistful look on his face. "Wonderful, isn't she?"

"You both… That was amazing." Ichigo almost felt like he'd just witnessed something private and sacred – intruded, somehow. But they had invited him to watch.

"Ah… Seems she was correct…"

"About what?"

"She told me you would appreciate this beauty."

"Appreciate?" Ichigo chuckled. "That commands _respect_ more than mere appreciation."

Ekitai glanced at him and messed up his hair. You're a funny kid, y'know?"

"Heh. How long have you been able to materialize her? You should be close to bankai, right?"

"Iye. I've been able to materialize her ever since I've been able to go inside my inner world. That world is no place for dancing, though."

"And you call me funny…"

"Aye – strangest kid I ever met," he said, lighting another cigarette.

* * *

As a note... 

"Kitanai Ekitai" literally translates to "Messy Liquid"

"Odoriko" translates to "Dancer"


End file.
